Janus
by Quatermass
Summary: (Based on DZ2's 'Unorthodox Guardian', whitetigerwolf's 'Bad Girl' and 'Jekyll & Hyde', and my 'Don't Fear the CCG Reaper' challenges! WBWL!) Rescued from a Ghoul Restaurant and adopted by Kishou Arima, Harry tries to piece himself back together, with the help of his big brother, and a certain author. But Magical Britain needs him. They are NOT ready for what is coming...
1. Foreword

**FOREWORD**

_Tokyo Ghoul_ is one of those series with which I have become obsessed lately, and given my usual recalcitrance for horror series, that's saying something. My first attempt (_Raptor of the 20__th__ Ward_) surprised me, in that after a fitful start that nearly saw it going on hiatus with barely 20K words or so, it suddenly kickstarted back into life, and it's now much larger. However, one possible character pairing that became an obsession (as long-time readers of the Cauldron will know) was pairing Harry with Eto.

Eto is one of those villains who, despite being rather vicious and, in some ways, irredeemable, she's nonetheless fascinating and sympathetic, and you wonder if she might have been different had she had different experiences. This is, admittedly, an Eto about eight years before _Tokyo Ghoul_ starts, when she's only just assembling what would become Aogiri Tree (incidentally, Potterverse characters' ages have been brought forward a year, and Potterverse canon has also been advanced a decade), and who has been influenced, if only slightly, into becoming more moral by Harry.

It took a while to get this story to work, but I finally found a way to do it. It's a chimaera of a number of challenges, including the 'Jekyll & Hyde' and 'Bad Girl' challenges by whitetigerwolf, DZ2's 'Unorthodox Guardian' (while not a complete answer to that, anyway), and my own 'Don't Fear the CCG Reaper' challenge. I'd also like to point out the _Tokyo_ Ghoul fics that helped inspire this story: the Eto-centric _Unravelled Bandages, Iris of Destiny_ and _Of Different Origins_, as well as the second chapter of _Research and Smoothies_, and _Daddy Arima_, both of which show a side to Kishou Arima that I wanted to portray here.

Anyway, time for the usual disclaimers. Firstly, there will be spoilers for both Harry Potter and _Tokyo Ghoul_.

Secondly, there will be heavy annotations, as is usual for my works. You have been warned.

Thirdly, this is an M-Rated work. There will be coarse language, violence, dark themes and sexual references. Again, you have been warned.

Finally, the following is a fan-written work. Harry Potter and _Tokyo Ghoul_ are the properties of their respective owners. Please support the official release. Otherwise, Eto will break you, body mind and soul…before eating you…


	2. Chapter 1: A Mistake is Made

**CHAPTER 1:**

**A MISTAKE IS MADE**

Ghouls, a human subspecies, obligate cannibals who could only survive by feeding on normal humans. Feared in myth and legend, but now an immutable fact of life, especially in urban areas. Oddly enough, while they were found across the world, the biggest concentration seems to be in Japan, specifically Tokyo.

The greatest bastion against this plague, then, was the Commission for Countering Ghouls, aka the CCG. Humans trained to fight against Ghouls, wielding biological weapons named Quinques, created from the very organs Ghouls used to fight, their _kagunes_. These Quinques are the very edge Investigators, colloquially known as 'Doves', need to take down Ghouls, proving that, if fighting monsters didn't mean you were in danger of becoming them, then it at least meant turning them into weapons.

Yet there was a conspiracy behind the CCG, and a conspiracy opposing that conspiracy. Ironically, two of the key figures of the counter-conspiracy were a trusted member of the CCG, and his adopted brother. The young CCG Investigator already feared as the CCG's Reaper, Kishou Arima, and a rather more eccentric Provisional Investigator called Harry Arima. And of all things, Harry had a relationship with a Ghoul, a strange love with a One-Eyed Ghoul called Eto Yoshimura…

* * *

_He stood there, basking in their applause, having just basked in the blood of the man he just killed. The grin on his face was there for the audience. Behind it, a young boy sat staring, no longer sobbing, just looking at the carnage he had wrought. Or rather, someone else had wrought. He was a passenger in his own mind in more ways than one. He'd given it over to the one who took the pain, physical and emotional, and made it his own._

_And then, screams of panic. The alarum call of "DOVES!" went up all around the chamber. And the boy just stood there, coming back to himself, his grin becoming more real, but also more tired, more weary, more broken. It was a smile that did not belong on a human being. Something in him realised that it was all over._

_And then, he saw __**him**__ approaching. A tall, imposing man, with short blue hair framing a stern face, and wearing glasses (just like he did), stopped near him, looking down at him._

_The boy knew, with some primal instinct, that this man was Death, that he was the very Reaper himself. But he did not cringe away or retreat. He just smiled, dropping the weapon, greeting Death like an old friend, hoping he'd take him away…_

* * *

"…And THAT, my dear Rei, is why you should not kill people you have grievances with. Rather, when the time is right, you make their lives a living hell through pranks."

The albino, effeminate boy stared at him, his crimson eyes wide with something akin to religious awe, a theophany apparent in that gaze, before he gave a deep and somewhat comical bow. "…Please teach me your secrets, Sensei-Senpai!"

"In due time. I don't think Shinohara will enjoy me teaching you too many bad habits, Rei. He's a good man, and doesn't need the headaches," Harry Arima said. "And you have to be discerning about your targets, who you prank, when, and what you do to them."

As Rei Suzuya looked at him with starry eyes, an older man with mismatched eyes (one squinting, the other wide open, giving him the air of a stroke victim or a lunatic) and wild white hair chuckled, drinking from a cup of tea as they convened in a break room at the Commission for Countering Ghouls. "Now, now, Harry, don't give him too many ideas just yet. Shinohara may have taken him under his wing, but unlike you, he still needs to go through the Academy."

"It doesn't mean I can't give my cute little minion-to-be some tips," Harry said, ruffling Rei Suzuya's hair. "Besides, Rei's gonna be a good boy, and only prank the deserving, right?"

"Yeah! I'm gonna make you proud, Sensei-Senpai!"

"Good. Now, as a mental exercise, I want you to think of all the ways you can prank Marude. I don't want you to do them, just go and write them out or something, okay?"

"Sure!"

As the albino wandered away, a notebook in hand, humming, the white-haired man, Kureo Mado, remarked, "I don't think anything could top the time when you stole his motorbike and parked it on the roof of this building, somehow. I swear, I coughed up half a lung from all the laughter." Mado looked at Harry, a pensive look on his face. "…You see yourself in him, being an ex-Scrapper yourself." It was a statement rather than a question.

"Of course. I was probably more functional than he was, but there's a few reasons for that. The first was that the Ghoul I was working for wasn't quite as much of a sadist as Big Madam was, odd though that seems in hindsight. The second is…well…"

"Edward?"

"Edward," Harry concurred with a nod.

"…Fair enough. For all that the Ghouls are monsters in human skin, I will admit that there are degrees of depravity even amongst them," Mado said, his eyes narrowing at Rei. "…What Big Madam did to that boy…the boy is broken, and may never recover fully, if at all. What a freak, to make a eunuch out of Rei to preserve his beauty. And that was only one indignity of many that that monster did to him. I read the file on his debriefing. Good Boy Points indeed." Mado scoffed.

Harry nodded. Rei Suzuya, an ex-Scrapper from a Ghoul Restaurant, a human slave taught how to kill and dismember their fellow man for the entertainment of Ghouls wanting a Grand Guignol version of dinner cabaret. Harry empathised with him because the same thing happened to him. His aunt and uncle had sold him to a Ghoul…only to find themselves on the menu in short order. They weren't Harry's first kills…but they weren't far from them.

Then again, only Dudley he regretted. Vernon and Petunia had told him that he was a freak, that his parents were drunkards who died in a car crash, not the truth. They treated him like a servant. Becoming dinner at a Ghoul Restaurant was karma.

"Apropos of nothing, have you heard the latest rumours?" Mado asked. Without further prompting, he said, "You know of the decrease in Ghoul numbers, something of an exodus. We just had confirmation that a number of Tokyo's Ghouls have been emigrating to Britain. Not that many, perhaps a dozen at the last estimate, but still, considering that there were a couple of big fish amongst them…"

Harry nodded. "I did hear the rumours. My big brother told me why. Despite the British being in denial, Voldemort has, somehow, resurrected himself. The so-called Boy Who Lived barely managed to escape. And apparently, Voldemort's had his followers reach out to Ghouls in Britain and in other countries, including Japan."

"Yes. And while the prospect of Ghouls disappearing from this city is an appealing one, it doesn't bode well that a rather tenacious warlock wants to use them as part of his army. And the current British Minister of Magic has stuck his head in the sand. Our Minister is appalling enough, but Cornelius Fudge makes him look superlative by comparison."

"So what is the British CCG going to do about it?"

"Good question. Even our CCG branches have had clashes with the local Aurors over jurisdiction, but apparently it's worse over there. Despite being one of the few organisations excepted from the Statute of Secrecy, they have a bad habit of Obliviating their Investigators anyway. They also get the rejects from the local DMLE as we do, though that's not necessarily a bad thing, as they tend to get those who are dismissed for political reasons, or not having pure enough blood. Some actually have good skills. But they're also seen, as we are, as a joke by the DMLE."

"Too many wizards are arrogant idiots," Harry muttered.

Mado nodded sagely. While Harry didn't like his more obsessional quirks, to say nothing of his extreme hatred for Ghouls, Mado was a good man, and tolerant of Harry's own quirks. The older man even had a prankster's nature himself, and was often a sounding board and co-conspirator for Harry's pranks. And unlike that lipless wonder Hachikawa, Mado at least cared about civilians who got in the way.

Of course, if Mado ever learned the secret Harry was hiding, Mado would probably kill him, albeit over a protracted period.

After all, he probably wouldn't take kindly to Harry dating the very person who killed Mado's wife.

At this time, Yukinori Shinohara and Kishou Arima walked into the break room. The former was a burly man with a pleasant face and an equally pleasant demeanour. The latter was a tall, stern-looking man whose features, while handsome, even beautiful, were cold, calm and stoic. His short blue hair had streaks of white in it, and his steel grey eyes peered out from behind glasses.

"Hey there, Harry," Shinohara said, before looking at Rei. "You haven't…uh…been teaching Rei any bad habits, have you?"

"…Just replacing bad habits with less bad ones," Harry said cheerfully. "You don't want your pet project to try and gut anyone he doesn't like at the Junior Academy, right? Besides, I've told him not to give you any headaches."

"Hmm. By the way, Arima here told me that your relationship with that author, Sen Takatsuki, is going well. It's good to have something outside of work. Still…you'll have to think of something to say to her."

Shinohara's words worried Harry, and his adopted big brother nodded to confirm that worry, sitting down, as did Harry. He knew when his adopted big brother, Kishou Arima, was being serious. "…What happened in there?" Harry asked, knowing that they had been to see Tsuneyoshi Washuu, the chairman of the CCG…and, unbeknownst to most, Arima's father.

Arima closed his eyes, a faint exhalation the closest thing the stoic and oft-expressionless CCG Investigator had to a sigh, at least publically. "There has been a complication in Britain. Due to the sudden influx of Ghouls into the country, the local CCG is having a hard time of it. However, Professor Dumbledore, the Headmaster of Hogwarts, has requested that a CCG Investigator, albeit one with magical ability, teaches Defence Against the Dark Arts for this year. Amber Baum has accepted. Due to her injury taking down the SS-rated Ghoul Maenad, she was taken off active duty some years ago. However, she has requested a teaching assistant from us. She wants someone experienced with both Ghouls and wizards. Unlike the British, we don't have many wizards in the CCG here in Japan. They prefer to work in the Committee for Disposal of Dangerous Creatures, and even then, they're content to let us handle Ghouls."

"…So one of us is going over," Harry said. "It can't be you. The Washuu clan wouldn't dare lend the British their biggest trump card."

"No. There is another problem. With Fudge in serious denial over Voldemort's return, he's looking to exert more control over Hogwarts," Shinohara said. "When you read between the lines, he's actually trying to dig up dirt on Dumbledore and Neville Longbottom. He's a paranoid imbecile who thinks that Dumbledore is scaremongering to get his position, and wants Dumbledore and Longbottom out of the way. The fact that he has known associates of Voldemort slipping him bribes and whispering in his ear doesn't help."

"Cretin," Mado said succinctly. "So many escaped imprisonment by claiming to be under the Imperius. I doubt that even a third of them were. I'd love to confine them to Cochlea, see whether they enjoy being made a Ghoul's bitch."

"Be that as it may," Arima said, "there is another reason for this. Dumbledore has also requested that the teaching assistant also help train Neville Longbottom. Augusta Longbottom's chosen tutors haven't done well for the boy. Dumbledore wants someone capable of training the Boy Who Lived in a manner that won't turn him into a wreck like many of the other tutors."

"Not a good showing at all, given that he's trumpeted as the Boy Who Lived," Mado remarked. "I personally think it's more likely that young Harry here was the one Voldemort tried to kill. And even if he weren't, it makes little difference. Whatever saved them was due to the sacrifice of the parents."

"In any case, Chairman Washuu has made a decision as to who will be sent over." He then looked pointedly at Harry.

"…This is his way of stopping me from pranking him, isn't it?" Harry said in annoyed resignation. The nods he got, even from his big brother, told him all he needed to know. Oh, joy…

**CHAPTER 1 ANNOTATIONS:**

**Oh dear. Harry is the ex-Scrapper protégé of Kishou Arima…and is about to be unleashed on Magical Britain. They are NOT ready…**

**No numbered annotations this time.**


	3. Chapter 2: Family, Friend, Freak

**CHAPTER 2:**

**FAMILY, FRIEND, FREAK**

It was a home away from home for CCG operatives, for when their work kept them away from their actual homes. A rather snazzy and spacious home with training facilities and living quarters. It was known colloquially as the Chateau, and for the past eight years, it was more or less the de facto home of Kishou Arima and his adopted little brother, Harry.

That evening, Harry was cooking dinner for them both. "Is the old man trying to get me killed? Is he that pissed off by what I've done to him?"

"No. The Washuu clan may not like your antics, but they are also pragmatists. You're still of considerable use to them," Arima said. "No, they know that you are more than capable of taking on Death Eaters. Due to what you went through in the Ghoul Restaurant, you are a creative and vicious combatant…and that's without going into Edward."

"…Let's not. I can hear him laughing," Harry muttered, indeed hearing phantom giggles. "…Eto's not going to be happy either."

"I don't doubt that, though I daresay she is also unhappy with Voldemort poaching some of her minions," Arima observed mildly. "In any case, Harry…I am still worried for you. You may be far more competent than the average wizard of your age, or indeed those older than you, but the Death Eaters are not to be underestimated. And remember what the Goblins said after they removed that taint from your scar. And there is also the fact that you are going into a political mess of a situation, and I know your lack of patience for those. Your usual manner might…no, _will_ cause disruption, to say nothing of what would happen if Edward were to make an appearance."

"And? Wizards in general are hidebound dinosaurs who look down on No-Majs, or Muggles, or whatever they call us. Besides, I'll bet I'll be also sent out to deal with the Ghouls Voldemort's recruiting."

"In all likelihood, yes. But there is something concerning. Before he was confined to Azkaban, there were rumours Augustus Rookwood, an Unspeakable who was also one of Voldemort's agents, was working on a means of hybridising Ghouls with humans. So you'll have to keep an eye out for any clues as to where his research is, whenever you're not required by Baum to assist her."

"…You think I'm going to die, don't you?"

"Not quite. People think I am heartless. You know that is far from the case, or else I would have taken your life when we first met. I have faith in your abilities, but you are not the strongest in the world. Even I do not think I am the strongest Dove in the CCG, though I don't know who would be. But if you died…the consequences could be bad. Leaving aside what I would feel, imagine what Eto would feel. You have helped her claw a little out of the darkness that has consumed her life. You give her a hope she never had before. If my father did arrange for your demise, then not only would Eto work to bring down the CCG, but I would help her."

"…Aren't you doing that already?"

"We wouldn't be as subtle as we are now."

"Ah." After a pause, during which he began serving out their dinner, sitting down at the table, he continued, "…Big brother, Kishou, you know how I feel about this plan. How it will mean you die, at the hands of the true One-Eyed King. You saved me. You gave me a purpose. You told me the truth about my parents. You even let me in on this plan you've got going with Eto. And I don't want you to die."

"I do not wish to die either, but the Washuus' little breeding program prevents me from having any say on how long I will live. I will be lucky to see 40. If I die, it will not be in bed while rotting away on the inside, or as the puppet of the Washuu clan. It will be on my own terms. But I do not intend to leave you alone, Harry. Why do you think I brought you in on my plan with Eto?"

"…I just want to be the one to do it. Ghoul or not…I want to be the one to kill you. You deserve someone who loves you to give you the mercy you want."

"…Perhaps when you're strong enough," Arima said with a faint, sad smile, before he began eating with a murmured '_itadakimasu_'. Harry followed suit. "Perhaps the only thing I should be grateful to the Dursleys for," Arima remarked after a while. "If nothing else, they gave you life skills and an excellent work ethic."

Harry chuckled mirthlessly. "That's damning them with faint praise. They'd have never let me cook Japanese food, though. '_Don't you dare cook that Jap food in this house, boy!_'," Harry said, giving a passable imitation of Vernon Dursley.

Arima nodded. "And you will be working with the man who put you there. Unlike Eto's father, he thought you'd be loved and taken care of, I would imagine. Dumbledore has admittedly made many bad decisions, but on the whole, I believe him to be a good man, but a flawed one who cannot see the wood for the trees."

"That's why I will get creative, if need be," Harry said, scowling at the thought of Dumbledore. He understood Arima's words on an intellectual level…but knowing the man condemned him, even if unknowingly, to those years of hell…well, it wasn't Dumbledore's fault Harry had become a Scrapper, that was all the stupidity and greed of his aunt and uncle. But thanks to Dumbledore, he had to cook for the Dursleys, clean for them…

No. He was going across to do a job as asked, albeit indirectly, by Dumbledore, and it would reflect badly on the CCG if he killed one of the most prominent wizards in the world. Especially without what they would see as just cause, despite what happened to Harry.

"I'm going to see Eto tomorrow," Harry decided. "I need someone to complain to. Other than you, Kishou. Besides, it's been a while since I've seen her, given that tour she recently did."

"It's been a fortnight at most," Arima remarked. "You last saw her shortly after your 16th birthday."

"…And it'll be even longer before I can see her again, if this BS in Britain keeps going on…"

* * *

Eto Yoshimura, who wrote under the _nom de plume_ of Sen Takatsuki, had recently purchased a rather nice apartment. When she wasn't working with the Ghoul gang she was assembling, she lived here, and it was here that the teenaged author greeted Harry with an excited squeal and a hug when he turned up the next morning. "Harry! Oh, I'm glad to see you again!"

"Hey, Eto," he said, entering her apartment. He'd sent her an SMS last night, asking to come over. Eto, naturally, accepted. It had taken them a while, since his big brother introduced them a couple of years back, to get to know each other.

Most people only knew her as Sen Takatsuki, the prodigy teenaged author, known for horror and thriller books like _Dear Kafka_ and _Monochrome Rainbow_. Well, the latter was an anthology. But her real name was Eto Yoshimura, the half-Ghoul daughter of one of V's former cleaners, Kuzen Yoshimura. A foolish old man who left Eto with an acquaintance in the 24th Ward, an underground warren of tunnels where the laws of the jungle applied, Ghoul eat Ghoul as well as Ghoul eat human. It would be hell for a child to grow up there.

Eto survived, and, in a twisted way, thrived. She became one of the strongest, if not the strongest, Ghouls in all of Tokyo. She became infamous as the One-Eyed Owl, named for the plumage-like flesh and beak-like protrusion on her _kakuja_, a form of fleshy armour Ghouls who ate their own kind could develop. And then, one day, she encountered Kishou Arima.

During their fight, out of sight of the CCG, they somehow came to an accord. An accord that drew Harry into it. Kishou Arima, a victim of the Washuu's breeding program, taking place in the Sunlit Garden. Eto Yoshimura, robbed of her mother, a journalist investigating V and the Washuu, by her father on the orders of V. And Harry Arima, formerly Potter, robbed of his parents by a wizard terrorist, sold to a Scrapper, and rescued by the man he would come to call a big brother. All three of them had a long-term goal: to topple the Washuu clan, the Sunlit Garden, and V.

For someone who had killed, and killed on a regular basis, Eto was a cheerfully refreshing breath of fresh air. While she was perhaps a bit more subdued and wary when Harry first met her, Harry reached out to her, if only because his big brother suggested this.

The road to their current relationship was more than a little rocky, and Harry still felt that Eto's morals needed work. But then again, he had eroded morals himself, especially where Edward was involved. If anything, he liked to think that he helped improve Eto's morals. And she helped give him a perspective on Ghouls he never really considered, even despite being an ex-Scrapper.

She was currently dressed in a dress with an owl on the front, an oddly childish choice for someone who was sixteen, but Eto had a rather childish nature at times. Harry found it endearing.

He looked at the pile of papers on the kitchen table. "What's that? Your plans for world domination?"

Eto snorted, taking them off the table and shuffling them. "Some notes I made last night for my future books, actually. Besides, what self-respecting megalomaniac would actually write down their plans for world domination? I mean, aside from crappy anime or a Bond film?"

"Fair enough." Harry then kissed her, the green-haired One-Eyed Ghoul kissing him back, their tongues warring for dominance. When they broke off, she had a lazy, feline smile, her single _kakugan_ showing in her right eye, glowing red on black sclera, like a negative image of her green on white eye. "Are you still trying to spook me, Eto?"

"I just love pushing people's buttons to see what happens," Eto purred. "Besides, you're one of the few people to look at my _kakugan_ without fear or disgust…well, one of the few humans. Then again, some Ghouls don't think much of hybrids. Three days ago, I had some fucker try to eat me, just to see what a One-Eyed Ghoul tastes like. I think he moves in the same circles as the idiots who run that Ghoul Restaurant do. Noro and I ate him. Of course, he's also one of those morons who's been listening to Voldemort's bullshit."

Harry sighed, knowing this was going to suck immensely. "Yeah…about that…"

* * *

Eto was pinching her nose, as she nursed a cup of coffee. She enjoyed the way Harry brewed hers, so he made a point of making some for her when he stopped by her place. "…Bloody hell. Those fuckers in the Washuu want you dead. Gonna gut them…"

"Eto, as much as I would like to join you in decimating the Washuu clan, burning the Sunlit Garden to the ground and sowing salt where it once stood, there is a time and place. Besides, Amber Baum, by all accounts, is a competent straight-shooter. If anything, you should be scared for the Ghouls in Voldemort's employ."

She scoffed. "…Nah. Bloody Jason and his little cocksucker Naki's gone over to Britain, citing a more interesting offer. And here I was going to make him part of the group I've got going with Noro and Tatara. Psychopathic moron with a gecko's face…I swear, he should have stayed in Cochlea to rot!" With a frustrated snarl, she flung her hands up in the air, before crossing her arms and pouting rather childishly.

"Great, so Jason and Naki are in Britain?" Harry muttered. "Oh well…it's not like I can take you with me." On Eto's sudden feline smirk, he said, "Eto…you know how wizards feel about Muggles, to say nothing about Ghouls. Besides, I'm probably going to be there for the best part of a year."

"And I will go craaazy without you for that long!" On Harry's flat look, she shrugged, and then clarified, "Well, more than I already am."

"I know, but seriously, what'd happen if the One-Eyed Owl starts popping up in Britain at the same time as a famous author does?" Harry asked.

"Oh, silly Harry, I can change the form of my _kakuja_ somewhat," Eto said, with a smirk. "Besides…if need be, I can use a Portkey, make a brief appearance as the One-Eyed Owl just to make some of the Doves piss themselves, and then head back. Besides…I have some former subordinates to punish. Now, let's not talk about that. I believe that you were going to take me out today…"

* * *

Eto loved these little back-alley expeditions. She was looking for trouble. While she enjoyed going on a picnic or to the movies or a restaurant for a date as much as the next girl, due to her twisted upbringing, she also enjoyed going on excursions that would end in physical violence.

Which was why they were currently walking down an alleyway, shortly after going and seeing a movie after a good day out. She knew even Harry found these cathartic. It was why he indulged her.

A trio of thugs soon accosted them, their eyes showing _kakugans_. "Well, well, well…lookie here, boys." He slammed Harry against the wall of the alley. "…I think we've just found our next meal."

"No, please, don't!" Eto yelped, playing the part of a distressed damsel to the hilt, because she knew what was coming next, and she wanted to savour the sheer horror these shitstains were going to feel once Edward happened. "I'll do anything…"

"Listen, missy, we don't like eating what we just fucked. I mean, who wants to eat something you just came in, right?" the thug holding Harry jeered, slamming him into the wall, and letting him slide down, seemingly unconscious. But he was interrupted when a jet of light severed his arm, sending it hurtling into the air, and caught by Harry.

Or rather, Edward.

The teenager standing there looked superficially like Harry, same unruly black hair, same lanky physique…but the posture was different. Parts of his face were subtly different, enough to be subtly unsettling, his hair wilder, his eyes more sunken…and now black, merciless pits, the darkness of the irises seemingly leaking into the sclera.

As the three thugs stared at him, one of them now clutching a stump of a severed arm, Edward grinned, touching the bloody stump with his finger, and licking it. "First blood o' the night, always hits the spot," he said, his voice now, oddly enough, having an Irish lilt to it. "Y'know what I call this, gentlemen, though I use the term loosely? A great cap to the evening. The moon is shining, there's a beautiful girl, and somebody's gonna die. That's you three guys, by the way."

The three Ghouls unleashed their kagunes. Two with wing-like _ukakus_, and one with tentacle-like _rinkaku_. "You think you're funny, human?" snarled the armless wonder.

"Bitch, I'm adorable." He gestured, and knives slid out of his sleeves, about a dozen. The Scorpion Quinque, a set of knives made from a recently-slain Ghoul. "Tell me, have any of you fine fellows read _JoJo's Bizarre Adventure?_ I don't have any steamrollers on-hand, unfortunately, but I can do the next best thiiing!"

Eto grinned as he flung the knives at the Ghouls, screaming "MUDA! MUDA! MUDA!", well, aside from one of them, who was currently using her as a human shield. The knives froze in mid-air in front of the one-armed one and Mr Rinkaku. "As I can't stop time, I have to do the next best thing. Activating shitstorm in three, two, one…"

And suddenly, the knives were embedded in the Ghouls' faces…well, save for her hostage taker. "…Stay back!" he screamed. "I'll kill her!"

"…Eto, darling, be a dear and stop playing a hostage," Edward said.

Eto grinned, before she threw herself back, landing on top of the other Ghoul, letting her lone _kakugan_ show as she twisted around and straddled him. "…A One-Eyed Ghoul?!" he hissed in horror.

Eto smirked. "Yep. Now…the thing is, kiddo, this guy has a nice side. But you just missed him. Edward, dear, can I have one of those Quinque knives?"

"But of course, my dear lass," Edward said, plucking a knife from one of his victims, and handing it to Eto. As she began stabbing him in a frenzy, a scary grin on her face, she heard Edward pluck out a mobile, and ring a number. "…Top o' the mornin', Kishou! Okay, well, it's evening, but still…yes, it's Edward. Hmm? Oh, we have had three unexpected gooseberries. Yes, I think Old Man Mado will be pleased. Hmm? Oh, she's having a great time. Gonna have to wash the knives, though."

It was interesting, really, how broken souls called to each other, Eto thought as she continued stabbing, making it seem like she did so in a blind panic, when in reality, she wanted to turn this fucker into mince (he had already expired five…six…no, seven stabs ago). Harry's time as a Scrapper had given rise to something very interesting. Harry had survived because something developed to take the pain of killing and being tortured away from Harry, something stronger and crazier. Another personality whom Harry and Arima had dubbed Edward…after Edward Hyde.

Eto grinned to herself as she stood up from the mutilated body. As annoying as it was to have to deal with the CCG after this, it was always the perfect cap to a date night. A dinner, a movie, and killing some stupid fuckers who deserved it. Though she had to wonder, if she was dating one guy with a split personality, and she loved them both, was it bigamy?

Questions to ponder for another time. For now, she had to calm down, get ready to play the part of a distressed damsel, having killed a Ghoul thug with a Quinque knife in a panic, and not try to grin at the fact that she had a damned good ending to this date…

**CHAPTER 2 ANNOTATIONS:**

**Because let's face it, date night with a somewhat megalomaniacal teenaged One-Eyed Ghoul and a traumatised wizard and ex-Scrapper with a split personality would be interesting, in the cursed sense of the term (to most people, anyway).**

**Now, Harry having a split personality wasn't the only route I wanted to take for this story. I considered three possible variations of the basic story, Arima adopting Harry. In both, he was a One-Eyed Ghoul, the main difference being that in one, he was an artificial OEG, and in the other, he was going to be a natural OEG (and using the backstory I developed for Lily for a few of my previous stabs at a Harry/Eto story).**

**For this story version, while I wanted Harry to be an ex-Scrapper, I needed something to show how different he is to canon Harry, given the shit he's gone through. A split personality, while admittedly an overused cliché and not really based on what is admittedly a very misunderstood area of psychology, actually works here.**

**My major inspiration for Harry's alternate personality, Edward, was the version of Edward Hyde as portrayed in the BBC TV series ****_Jekyll_****, written by Steven Moffat before he began showrunning ****_Doctor Who_****. There's even some nods to Hyde's first full appearance in a few lines of dialogue at the end of the chapter, which were modified from that scene. And Edward will be based heavily on that version of Hyde, who is easily one of the more camp versions of the character…but no less dangerous for it.**

**Harry's still just as capable a Dove without Edward. He's been trained by Arima, after all. But Harry, when he kills, kills cleanly. Edward…gets ****_creative_****. ****_Playful_****. Rather like how Miho from ****_Sin City_**** gets when someone makes the mistake of calling her by some racial slur.**

**It's also worth pointing out that, while he has a split personality, Harry has two faces in addition to that. In public, or at least in the CCG, he acts cocky, clowning around. As you'll see in later chapters, it's not just Edward who has a taste for ****_JoJo's Bizarre Adventure_****. In private, he's more introspective, brooding, snarky and cynical, particularly around Arima. He'll be like a pre-Aogiri Ken, only less wimpy and more badass, but he's got the angst and self-doubt.**

**Eto likes Harry and Edward equally, and the three of them have come to an arrangement of sorts, though they're not lovers (yet, though they're not far from it). I think Eto is fond of broken things, being broken herself, which is part of the reason Harry appeals to her. And Harry, despite herself, has actually been acting as a moral anchor to her, albeit a loose one. She's still developing Aogiri Tree, but it may not be as much of the terrorist group as it is in canon.**

**Let me reiterate: Magical Britain is NOT ready for what's coming.**

**No numbered annotations this time.**


	4. Chapter 3: Sins of the Past

**CHAPTER 3:**

**SINS OF THE PAST**

Professor Albus Dumbledore, he of too many names and titles (the latter of which he would agree with you wholeheartedly), felt ambivalent about meeting Amber Baum. On the one hand, he felt her to be a quite superlative student, second only to the late, lamented Lily Evans as the brightest witch (Muggleborn or otherwise) of her generation, and Amber had been in Hufflepuff. Hadn't that ruffled the Ravens' feathers, the fact that the brightest witches weren't in Ravenclaw? Baum was a hard worker and tenacious, and if it weren't for the politics in the DMLE at the time, she would have made a brilliant Auror.

However, during training, Amber made the mistake of retaliating rather…well, Dumbledore would have called it excessively, but considering she was nearly raped, he felt that she acted with surprising restraint. Unfortunately, the man she put in St Mungo's was both a top Auror who had the ear of Barty Crouch, as well as one of the Pureblood families. And despite them needing the manpower to deal with Voldemort, Crouch made an example of her, if only to show that even the Aurors were accountable…even though he never did much to her assailant beyond a slap on the wrist, relatively. She was expelled from the DMLE.

However, Crouch, while very much a political animal and rather cold-hearted, was not without a pragmatic view of things. He referred Amber Baum to the Commission for Countering Ghouls. Unfortunately, Amber retained a lot of bitterness towards the Ministry of Magic and the DMLE, and while she got along well enough with Amelia Bones and Rufus Scrimgeour these days, there were still clashes between the British CCG and the DMLE.

Baum's relationship with Dumbledore wasn't that great either. She called him a coward after the Potters and the Longbottoms, her friends from Hogwarts, perished that Halloween night. She'd caught wind of the prophecy through a contact in the Unspeakables, and accused him of using Harry and Neville, along with their families, as bait.

Dumbledore sighed. He hadn't meant things to turn out the way he did that night. Pettigrew betraying the Potters (and the Longbottoms, who were visiting at the time), but Sirius got the blame due to their misdirection. The Longbottoms and Potters' last stand. And then, Augusta got there. It was her considered opinion that it was Neville who survived the Killing Curse, and Dumbledore, at the time, agreed. The ritual had been Lily's, but Voldemort, instead of what he thought through Severus' intelligence, had chosen to kill Neville, a Pureblood, over Harry, a Halfblood.

He'd sent Harry to his uncle and aunt, as, with Sirius in prison, the Longbottoms dead, and Remus a werewolf, he needed to be with his family. He hoped they would treat him well enough.

But when the time came to deliver to Harry his Hogwarts letter…they couldn't. The Dursleys, Dumbledore discovered, died during a trip to Tokyo. Murdered by Ghouls at one of those appalling Ghoul Restaurants. It cost Dumbledore some money to inquire after him at Gringotts, whether he had claimed any of his vaults. The Goblins were even more tight-lipped than usual, but all they were willing to confirm was that Harry Potter was still alive, he was residing in Tokyo, and he had claimed his vaults through their branch there. Oh, and he didn't go to Mahoutokoro: apparently the biggest expenses from the vaults were for tutors in magic.

As much as Dumbledore wanted to get Harry back in Britain, it was Neville who was the Boy Who Lived, and Dumbledore knew that, if Harry had a new home in Japan, one where he was happy and content…well, who was he to disagree? While Tokyo was one of the biggest hotspots for Ghouls in the world, if he had a good life…well, while it pained Dumbledore that he would not be in Britain, he didn't want to meddle any further.

Unfortunately, over the years, he felt he had made a mistake about Neville. Then again, it wasn't helped by that dragon of a grandmother of his and that fatuous fool Algernon Croaker, who exploited Neville's fame for all they could in the Wizengamot and the Ministry. They had begun training the boy from an early age in a manner the Spartans would have looked askance at, and by the time he came to Hogwarts, he was a timid boy, almost a nervous wreck. Even Severus, with his contempt and disdain for all things Gryffindor, and who despised the Boy Who Lived, recognised that Neville had been put under too much pressure.

True, the boy did have moments of true courage, and was actually quite competent when it came to DADA, Herbology, and theoretical subjects. But he was so passive and timid most of the time…well, this was not the Boy Who Lived that Magical Britain wanted, something driven home by the previous year's events, when Barty Crouch Junior, disguised as Mad-Eye Moody, put Neville's name into the Goblet of Fire. Only Hermione Granger and Luna Lovegood seemed to believe that Neville didn't cheat his way into it, of the student body. And while he managed to acquit himself well enough in the Tasks of the Tri-Wizard Tournament (especially the Second Task, where his Herbology knowledge allowed him to figure out how to use Gillyweed), the events in the graveyard where Voldemort all but broke him, and yet, that battleaxe of a grandmother of his berated him, for not doing well enough.

And now, this clash in the Wizengamot, between Fudge and Longbottom. Umbridge's appointment as the High Inquisitor. The smear campaign against Dumbledore and Neville. The news that Voldemort was recruiting Ghouls worldwide for his army. Thankfully, only a few dozen had heeded his call outside of Britain, but apparently, they included some of the worst of the worst.

Dumbledore was brought out of his reverie when his ward notified him that Amber, along with Minerva and Severus, were waiting outside his office. Having the gargoyle move aside, he waited until they entered. He winced once more when he saw Amber, her handsome features twisted in a perpetually acerbic expression. She limped over, using a cane that he knew was actually a Quinque, a weapon engineered from the _kagune_ or weapon limbs of Ghouls. In fact, she had stated that she had made the Quinque from the very Ghoul who gave her her injury, taking her from the front lines. She had a file in her hand.

Before he could say anything, Amber snapped, "Skip the pleasantries, Dumbledore. I'm not interested in how you claim, truthfully or not, that it is good to see me. I came here mostly to tell you, I've recruited my teaching assistant. The Tokyo branch of the CCG has agreed to send me one, and while he is young, he is of the best quality. However, there are…problems associated with him." She handed him the file, clearly intending for him to read it.

As he distantly heard Minerva berate an unrepentant Amber for her disrespect, he opened the file, and was greeted by a ghost from the past. The eyes of a dead woman stared out from the face of a dead man, now a teenaged boy, his face seemingly impassive. And then, he saw the name: Harry Arima.

"…Harry?" Dumbledore asked, his voice plaintive. And then, he realised he had heard that name before. Arima. As in Kishou Arima, the infamous Reaper of the Tokyo branch of the CCG. He looked up at Amber. "Is this Harry Potter?"

"He was, until your poor choice in guardians backfired," Baum said bluntly. "They took him on a trip to Tokyo…and sold him to a Ghoul, who promptly double-crossed them. They were kept prisoner for a couple of months…until Harry was ready for them. He was brainwashed into what is known as a Scrapper. Do you know what a Scrapper is?"

"I must confess that I do not."

"What about a Ghoul Restaurant?" Dumbledore, reluctantly, nodded. "A Scrapper is a human slave they use to kill and dismember their meals in what is basically a dinner cabaret show. They frequently train them young. The Dursleys may not have been Harry's first victims, but they were amongst them. And considering that, until they went to Japan, they basically treated him like a House Elf, I believe karma bit them quite literally in the arse, and hard."

"Impossible," Severus sneered.

"Harry agreed to a debriefing under the influence of Veritaserum during the adoption process," Amber said, switching her glare briefly to Snape, before turning back to Dumbledore, who could scarcely believe it himself. "The aunt was jealous of Harry for his magic, the uncle was a xenophobe who despised freakish behaviour, and they decided to stamp the magic out of him. His bedroom was a _boot cupboard_ underneath the stairs."

"But…I gave them a stipend for his upkeep…" Dumbledore protested.

"Well, clearly, they took the money and laughed all the way to the bank," Amber retorted.

"…I told you they were the worst kind of Muggles!" Minerva hissed, like the cat she took the form of as an Animagus.

Dumbledore held up a hand to silence her, looking at Amber, feeling regret at another major mistake crashing down. "…I presume he is…mentally recovered? Otherwise, he would not be working as a Dove."

"Not completely. In order to cope with what was done to him and what he did to others, he created a second personality. It would be a mistake to call Harry sane as much as…functional. As you would note had you read through the file, he has a number of disciplinary citations, albeit for pranks. He is like his father in that regard, only he tends to target property of those who irritate him. He makes an effort to avoid actual physical harm to people, beyond causing some cases of the runs and the like. However, if someone truly angers him, or if he's afraid for his life in certain circumstances…his alternate personality, Edward, named for Edward Hyde, comes out to play."

"And this is your teaching assistant?" Severus asked, appalled. "A deranged schizophrenic psychopath?"

"Harry Arima is _not_ a deranged psychopath, multiple personalities and schizophrenia are two different things, and I would not throw stones, _Death Eater_," Amber retorted. "The choice was made for me by Chairman Tsuneyoshi Washuu, much to my annoyance, but for all his mental issues and disciplinary problems, Harry is actually one of the CCG's success stories. He is mostly mentally stable, and even Edward has a certain sense of morality, or at least standards. After being rescued from the Ghoul Restaurant, Edward has not killed an innocent person. What is more, under Kishou Arima's tuition, Harry became, last year, a Provisional Investigator, a fancy word for saying he's been made a Dove at an unusually young age, bypassing the Junior Academy or the Academy in its entirety. Only his adopted big brother had attained such a rank. He has also recently attained a Single White Wing badge, denoting that he has killed a Ghoul of S Rank. Admittedly, the report indicates he was lucky to survive that encounter with his hide more or less intact, and he needed his magic to kill said Ghoul, but as luck is needed in spades when dealing with any Ghoul, especially those S Rank and above…well, he may not be at the level of Kishou Arima, but he's living up to his legacy."

Dumbledore…didn't know what to think of this. On the one hand, he was glad that Harry had found some sort of stable life. But on the other, he was damaged, becoming effectively a child soldier for the CCG. And such a boy was coming to Hogwarts to act as, not only a teacher, but also as a possible tutor for Neville? "…Is there any way you can get someone else?"

"I doubt it. Tsuneyoshi Washuu is very much an autocrat. What he says, goes. I will keep him from causing too much havoc, but he has no patience for politics, so Umbridge had better watch what she says around him. He won't kill her unless she pushes him too far, but that just means he will become as creative as his father was. However, I also daresay that he will get your students up to snuff on DADA. Umbridge contacted me, trying to pressure me to use Slinkhard's pathetic work as a textbook. _Slinkhard_," she repeated, heaping contempt on the name. "A pathetic coward who claims the best way to deal with a dark wizard is to retreat and find someone competent like an Auror, despite the fact that this class is meant to be teaching the next generation of Aurors! I swear, Umbridge did that deliberately. She may not be a Death Eater, but I reckon she's a groupie, looking to play both sides and come out on top, and she's sabotaging our new Aurors for that reason, at least partly."

"Regardless…I feel that having him here might prove to be potentially disastrous," Dumbledore said.

"…Maybe. But he won't be helping with my classes all the time. He'll be engaging in missions for the CCG against the Ghouls. Besides, I heard his girlfriend will be visiting frequently."

"Girlfriend?" Minerva asked.

"A Muggle author, Sen Takatsuki. She's well aware that he is a wizard and a Dove, to say nothing of his condition, and she's not too bad in a fight herself. Last night, I heard that, while on a date, they were set upon by Ghouls, and she killed one of them herself with one of the Quinques he had. In self-defence and a bit of a panic, understandably, but still…"

"I believe I've heard of Takatsuki," Severus said. "A horror and thriller author…and at a rather young age."

Amber nodded. "As she is one of those read into the nature of the Wizarding World, she may visit Hogwarts. Mostly to see her boyfriend, but also, she might need inspiration for one of her books. She knows better than to write something that will have the Aurors on her arse. Make no mistake, Dumbledore, as disquieted as I am about his coming here, I'd rather have Harry Arima watching my back than almost any Auror in this country. The ones I would trust with my life are either on desk jobs, or in your little vigilante group. And if he's going to be teaching Longbottom, then I guarantee, if Longbottom doesn't get up to snuff after Harry's done with him, he never will. As for the Death Eaters…well, I'd pity them if they were worth giving a shit about. I know you have your little hard-on for redemption, Dumbledore…but there are some who don't want to be redeemed. And before you protest that it is murder, under the regulations of the CCG, any unauthorised organisation intending to use Ghouls as weapons of war will be dealt with as if they were Ghouls themselves. And considering the rumours that Rookwood was looking to create artificial hybrids…"

"Yes, I believe you have made your point, Amber, even if I disagree most vehemently with it." While Dumbledore was not blind to the atrocities many Ghouls perpetrated, he also believed, their hunger aside, that there must be individuals who did not wish to kill to eat, who were not monsters, save for their hunger. It was like with werewolves, particularly Remus. While many were undeniably monsters, Remus, when he wasn't transformed, was a good man. If a means of artificially recreating the nutrients in human flesh a Ghoul depended on could be found, could that help some of the Ghouls become better?

"Whether you do so or not is irrelevant, Dumbledore. In all Ghoul-related matters, the CCG have sway. Not the Ministry or the DMLE, no matter what some idiots think, and certainly not the Headmaster of Hogwarts, especially considering you've lost both your Chief Warlock and Supreme Mugwump positions."

"…And in some ways, I'm relieved, Amber. As much as I tried to use my positions to better society, Hogwarts is where I prefer to be. But even so…do you truly find it so easy to kill?"

"Bluntly, yes. In some ways, the Death Eaters are worse than Ghouls. Ghouls at least are cursed from birth by their hunger for human flesh. I'm not blind, unlike many in Tokyo, to the fact that many Ghouls want to live peaceful lives, but cannot, because of their diet. But the Death Eaters? By what right do they think they have to kill those they believe to be unworthy? The only thing great about them is the great amount of inbreeding they underwent! In any case, Harry Arima and Sen Takatsuki will be arriving at the London CCG this evening. I'd suggest reading that file before you come to bring them to either Hogwarts, or whatever bolthole you have the Order of the Phoenix at."

Dumbledore nodded, resigning himself to the fact that he would be reading over a litany of his greatest mistakes. "…Would he be amenable to meeting the Order?"

"If by that, you mean Sirius Black, and Remus Lupin, I am sure. I know Sirius is innocent, thanks to Shacklebolt. But he may not take things well if they try to force a connection. The last time he met them was when he was an infant. If they push things, and he reacts badly…it's their own damn fault. I'd be more worried about how he will react to you…"

**CHAPTER 3 ANNOTATIONS:**

**Yes, he should be. This Dumbledore, while heavily flawed, is not a villain, just a somewhat ineffectual old man with a list of mistakes as long as his beard.**

**No numbered annotations this time.**


	5. Chapter 4: Not-so-Merry Old England

**CHAPTER 4:**

**NOT-SO-MERRY OLD ENGLAND**

International Portkeys, Eto decided, were a _bitch_. The sad thing was, she didn't know whether a few seconds of extreme discomfort that made one feel like a rag in a washing machine balanced out the more mundane but maddening discomfort of cattle class on an aeroplane. All that she needed to know was that she very nearly vomited, and considering she ate flesh not so long ago, she didn't want to give the London CCG any possible means of determining her true nature. She knew already RC Cell Scan Gates didn't work unless she was showing her _kakugan_, or extruding her _kagune_ or _kakuja_.

Tatara had been given control over her group while she was gone, even though she only intended to make regular visits to Britain rather than stay here. Tatara was everything she wanted in a second-in-command: loyal, smart, and while he didn't lack for ambition, he was also prudent. In truth, she did rely on him for helping her make leadership decisions properly, and he was the only member of their gang to know about Eto's conspiracy with the Arimas. As long as he got to avenge his brothers, the Chinese Ghoul didn't really care.

They were soon met in the chamber they had arrived in by that Amber Baum HER Harry was meant to be working with. Eto knew that the cane she was wielding was some sort of Quinque, judging by the unmistakeable smell coming from it. After exchanging pleasantries, the woman brought them out, limping down the corridors of the London CCG like she was the Dove equivalent of Dr House.

"What's the situation in terms of Ghoul attacks in Britain?" Harry asked, his briefcases with his most used Quinques in hand. Not the Scorpion knives he used last night, but rather, two. The first was a trio of old Quinques that had belonged to his big brother: the sword-like Yukimura 1/3. The second was a _rinkaku_ fitted to a gauntlet that was officially named Murasaki, but unofficially nicknamed by Harry 'Hermit Purple', and indeed had not dissimilar effects to the thorny vine-like Stand of Joseph Joestar's from _JoJo's Bizarre Adventure_. During combat, he loved acting like Joseph Joestar, though when he tried to predict what people would say next, they'd either look askance at him, or just try to kill him regardless.

"The Ghouls who emigrated here are, for the most part, keeping their heads down," Baum said. "The increase in attacks has been relatively minimal, so far, though there have been brief spikes."

"Which means they're up to something," Harry muttered. "Anyway, who are we meeting?"

"Professor Dumbledore, along with two others who are official members of his vigilante group, the Order of the Phoenix. One is Professor Minerva McGonagall, his deputy headmistress and the Head of Gryffindor House at Hogwarts. The other is a rookie Auror by the name of Nymphadora Tonks, though I'd suggest calling her by her last name. She despises her first name."

Eto scoffed. "It's not that bad, though to be fair, it does sound pretentious."

"Also present will be Investigators Daniel and Emma Granger, along with their daughter, Hermione, who is a student at Hogwarts and has been staying at the Order of the Phoenix's homebase. There's also a dog, Padfoot, who has been brought with them. I have explained to them your past, Harry, and I would thank you to avoid starting trouble, especially where Dumbledore is concerned."

"Don't expect me to be friends with him. I will be polite and civil, but I won't be friends with him, even if you ordered me to."

"Harry, as long as you remain polite and civil, I will be satisfied."

They soon came to a meeting room. Eto had to grimace at the robes the pantomime Merlin, introduced as Dumbledore, was wearing. She had to give the old man some due, he at least seemed remorseful for what happened. Then again, so did her old man, the hypocrite. But those robes, though…she'd seen worse on the streets of Tokyo, worn by daring people, but still…

She took note of the two women accompanying him, a rather stern-faced looking woman much older than Baum, and a punkish-looking woman with pink hair who would have fit right in some of the more adventurous wards in Tokyo. A rather bushy-haired woman and a rather stern young man flanked a bushy-haired girl about their age. And there was a rather large black dog…who smelled rather strange.

After introductions were made, with Harry keeping civil, barely (towards Dumbledore, at least), the bushy-haired girl, Hermione, came over. "So, you're Sen Takatsuki? It's a pleasure to meet you! I've read all of your books."

Ah, a fangirl. A fairly mild one, thankfully, and she had a nice smell, so Eto would refrain from eating her. "Thank you, Hermione, was it? I'll happily sign your books while I'm in Britain. Harry here helped me learn English to translate my own books for the English-speaking market. Relying on translators tends to cause something to get lost in translation. Actually, there was a pun in _Resentment_ that Harry found a nice little English equivalent. I guess you could say he's become my muse."

"Be that as it may…Harry, do you trust this girl?" Dumbledore asked.

"Far more than I trust you," Harry said bluntly.

"Mr Potter!" McGonagall snapped.

"_Arima_. I am Provisional Investigator Harry _Arima_, Professor McGonagall. I took the name of the man who saved my life with pride. My parents may have been heroes, and saved my life, and I truly do respect that, but Kishou Arima has been there for me longer. And if you are asking me to show Professor Dumbledore respect, then I am showing him more than I feel he is due. Even if he was ignorant about what the Dursleys were truly like, I am sure there were plenty of more suitable guardians than they were. However, I will not pretend to like Professor Dumbledore. I am here partly because Tsuneyoshi Washuu had enough of me pranking his antediluvian, wrinkled arse, and frankly, he is due a lot less respect than Professor Dumbledore."

"Do you hate me so much, Harry?" Dumbledore asked.

"I don't hate you enough to want you dead. Your fault was from ignorance, I hope, and I'm probably holding too much of a grudge about it. But I went through years of hell as the Dursleys' House Elf and then as a Scrapper. I'm agreeing to help you out, aside from my orders, because people are in trouble over here, good people. If Voldemort decides to unleash a Ghoul army on Britain, then the consequences will obviously be catastrophic. If I can help, either by thinning out said army, or by helping to teach your students, then I will be glad to. But keep this in mind, Dumbledore: I am not working for or under you, nor do I want to. I answer to the CCG. Not to the DMLE, not to the Ministry of Magic, and not to you."

"Then perhaps that is all I can hope for," Dumbledore said quietly. Yeah, the old man stank of being like her father. Though she had to wonder why the dog was looking at her funny…

* * *

Eto's first impression of 12 Grimmauld Place was that it was a shithole. It had clearly been a grand old townhouse, but had gone to seed, gone to pot, gone to hell. Admittedly, said first impression was coloured by tumbling out of a fireplace at speed, though she managed to flip onto her feet, make a bow, and crow, letting a little of her normal personality leak through in the process, "And she sticks the landing!"

Only to promptly get bowled over by Harry when he made his own exit.

Yep, all magical means of transport were _shit_.

And if that weren't bad enough, some old bitch starts screaming at them in the background. When Eto helps Harry up, she sees the telltale signs of Edward being in the driver's seat, and he storms out into the hall, shoving aside the wizards who get in his way. "What the hell happened to his eyes?!" Tonks yelped.

"Edward's in control, Nymph-a-Dora," Eto crooned with a smirk. "I think he's taken offence at whoever's doing the screeching."

"TRAITORS! MUDBLOODS! HALFBREEDS! I…"

"SHUT UP, YOU LITERALLY OVERPAINTED HARRIDAN!" roared Edward. Eto followed him out into a hall, where he was matching glares with…a portrait of a rather unpleasant-looking woman. Ah, yes, wizards and their thing about moving images that weren't television, movies, or internet porn. More quietly, Edward then said, almost conversationally, "Have you ever watched the movie _Who Framed Roger Rabbit?_"

"I don't watch Muggle filth," sneered the woman.

"Oh, more's the shame. You should see the tits on Jessica. A bit too big for my liking, pretty disproportionate to the rest of her, much like some anime characters…and you have to wonder what she sees in Roger. Also, they turned playing Patty Cake into something like mutual masturbation for cartoons, which has put me off Patty Cake for life, and I dunno how they kept what you Brits call a PG rating with all of that, but I digress. You see, they have something in that called The Dip."

"Ooh, is he threatening that bitch Walburga with what I think he is?" Tonks asked.

"He wouldn't, would he?" Hermione hissed, her eyes wide.

"Oh, he would," Eto said with a grin.

"And what is this so-called Dip?" the woman, Walburga was what Tonks called her, asked with an arrogant sneer.

"Oh, it's a fun little cocktail o' turpentine, acetone and benzene. It'd no doubt kill any stupid bastard who drinks it, and here's the kicker…_it dissolves paint_. So, if you don't have a nice cup o' Shut the Fuck Up, I'm gonna splash a cup o' The Dip onto you instead, and see if we get blissful silence then…well, after all the agonised screaming. So, do we have a sound basis for communication, or rather, a sound basis for you being silent?" And with that, he gave that very predatory grin, the one that made Eto involuntarily shiver with delight. "Or do I need to go and get the mixing bucket? Oh, and don't think I didn't notice your Bitch's Little Helper sneaking up beside me." He then turned, and grinned at a seemingly empty part of the floor, though Eto's nose caught some musty old scent. "Just try it, Bitch's Little Helper, and I'll _vivisect _you. Always wondered what a House Elf looked like on the inside."

"Vivisect?" growled out a decrepit voice, as an old-looking…creature appeared, diminutive, dressed in filthy rags, with large ears, large eyes, and a long nose.

"It means I get to cut you up while you're still alive, Bitch's Little Helper," Edward said. "I get to go all Dr Moreau(1) on your arse!"

"You're Mr Hyde, not Dr Moreau!" Eto heckled, good-naturedly.

"…Kreacher, stand down," the portrait said, with the utmost reluctance. When the House Elf seemed reluctant to do so, the portrait said, "Kreacher, if you value your life and loyalty to the House of Black, you will stand down."

The House Elf began grumbling, but eventually toddled off. Edward then turned to Walburga, and grinned. "Much obliged. Now, I'd better switch back with good ol' Harry, but just remember…I have _very_ sensitive ears."

A pair of curtains on either side of the portrait slid shut hurriedly at that, and Edward bowed to his audience. Then, he swayed, his black eyes becoming green again, shaking his head as if to clear it. "…You know," came a voice from behind Eto, a haggard-looking man with grey eyes, a beard and dark hair, "I'm both impressed and scared of what you did to my late and…unlamented mother."

He smelled of the dog, albeit faintly. Eto scowled to herself. An Animagus! No wonder that dog smelled weird. Harry was on-edge too, before he frowned. "And you are?"

"Sirius Black. I…I'm your godfather."

"…The one sent to Azkaban," Harry mused. "If you're here now without everyone screaming, I'm guessing you were framed for betraying my parents. I'm sorry, then, for misjudging you when I heard of your supposed crimes. The people who died?"

"Pettigrew," Sirius spat out. "He was the substitute Secret Keeper. I was the one who thought of it. I might as well have killed those people, and your parents, because of that."

Harry's eyes probed him, before nodding. "You trusted the wrong person. Just don't expect me to accept you as my godfather so quickly. No offence intended, but until now, I thought you were a traitor to my parents."

Sirius seemed hurt at this, but nodded. "…I heard from Amber that you're something of a prankster, though?"

Eto chuckled. "Oh, yes. There was one time he got his superior's prized motorbike onto the roof of the CCG Headquarters."

"Marude had it coming. Less Ma-ru-deh and more Ma-rude," Harry said, spelling out the Japanese syllables for the man's name, before saying it with the English word 'rude'.

"…Harry," Sirius said with a smile. "I think you'd have made your father proud, pranking the deserving."

"It's why I was sent here," Harry muttered sullenly. "Stupid Old Man Washuu, no detectable sense of humour whatsoever to human science…"

* * *

"…May I look at your Quinques?"

Harry blinked, and then looked at Hermione. "…That's a bit of an intimate question to ask when we've only just met, Hermione." At her aghast expression, he smiled. "Nah, it's fine. Just be careful. They are weapons, after all."

He watched as she carefully opened up the cases while he unpacked into the room that would be his until he went to Hogwarts. She extracted Yukimura, one of them, and watched as the blade formed itself. "What's this one called?"

"Yukimura. A _koukaku_ Quinque, and one my big brother used."

"Oh, right, Kishou Arima adopted you. What's he like?"

"…Stern, cold, very professional. But in private, he's a great guy. Loves reading and music. Still quiet and calm. I swear, he jokes about me giving him white hairs early. Why do you ask?"

"My parents are Investigators, as you noticed. I say they're dentists because…well, wizards and Doves, particularly in Britain, don't get along. I heard stories about the CCG Reaper, and I did hear rumours that he adopted a child, though it wasn't until today that I heard from Investigator Baum what…what the Ghouls did to you. I'm sorry for that."

"Don't be. I appreciate your sympathy, Hermione, but you had nothing to do with me being there. Dumbledore left me with the Dursleys, and the Dursleys sold me to the Ghoul who made me a Scrapper. I'm damaged goods. Half of the reason Chairman Washuu sent me here was to get a break from inflicting my crazy on him. He's like Dumbledore, only he's a meddling old fart with no redeeming features whatsoever. That being said, try not to bring up my past as a Scrapper. Actually, would you like me to tell you a story about Yukimura?"

"Sure," Hermione asked, accepting the change in subject.

"…Five years ago, my big brother was working for the CCG. He was only a Provisional Investigator, mind, because he was still in high school, but he actually adopted me not long before. This was his main Quinque. He carried it around in a modified cello case to avoid questions. He worked undercover, you see, trying to track down Ghouls, and one of his main targets was one called Lantern, so called because she wore a Jack O'Lantern mask on her head. As it turned out, she was a student at his high school, Uruka Minami. She played along with his investigation, helping him out, along with Taishi Fura, in hunting down other Ghouls. However, he had her figured out pretty quickly. The thing is…all she wanted was to have a normal life. True, she killed petty criminals and delinquents whose main crime was being a nuisance, saying they wasted their lives in such a carefree manner, but…well, you have to wonder how many Ghouls don't want to kill to eat. It was this Quinque that killed Uruka, though it was Fura who wielded it, not my big brother."

"…So, what did you mean by that story?" Hermione asked him.

"…That it's too easy to see the world in black and white. I do it sometimes. Uruka was a vicious bitch…but I have to wonder how much of it was just the Ghoul hunger and what life they gave her. That if she was a normal human, she wouldn't have been like that. I'm a murderer, Hermione. I killed many times in that Ghoul Restaurant. I'm still putting the pieces of what is left of me back together. And becoming a Dove is a dangerous job, to your body and your soul. Think about it before you join the CCG in earnest."

"…I know it's dangerous. But so's being a Muggleborn witch in a school littered with Blood Purists who despise me for being born, and being better than them, despite my parents being Muggles." She looked at him with her chocolate eyes filled with conviction. "I want to make a difference, even if it's by killing a single Ghoul who has caused others misery."

Harry chuckled. "You remind me of this guy who just joined the Academy in Japan. Koutaro Amon, I think he is. He had the same conviction as you, even if his circumstances were different. Did you ever hear of the fiasco around the orphanage run by Donato Porpora?"

"…Oh, God, was Amon one of the kids there?" Hermione whispered.

"Yeah. Porpora's now in Cochlea, in the SS Level. My big brother took me there once. The thing is, Hermione, just be careful where that conviction takes you. I've seen too many Doves end up like Ahab." Harry then frowned. "…Hey, where's Longbottom, by the way?"

"Still at Longbottom Manor. That harridan of a grandmother of his and Dumbledore are at odds, and have been for some time." Hermione sighed quietly. "And I don't think his grandmother is going to like you being here. After all, it could have been you that was chosen as the Boy Who Lived…"

**CHAPTER 4 ANNOTATIONS:**

**So, Harry and Eto are in Britain, and he's made an impression. Because, let's face it, Walburga should be Dipped. Plus, a bit of a reference to ****_Tokyo Ghoul: JACK_****.**

**Review-answering time! ****rmarcano321****: Bluntly, because I wanted to do a Harry/Eto fic, and this idea seemed to work the best.**

**animeromance1972****: …You know, I wish I had thought of that. And you know what? We're going to see it happen. Edward versus Bella…trix Lestrange!**

**Tsukoblue****: I'm definitely glad. I've been trying to get a story to work with this pairing for a while now. The problems include matching up their ages, trying to give them compatible moralities, actually getting a story that will fit the pairing, and so on. Trying to get a story with this pairing going's been driving me insane, and I have to thank Arawn D Draven for being a very patient sounding board.**

**1\. In the original novel ****_The Island of Dr Moreau_**** by HG Wells, Dr Moreau used vivisection and surgery to turn animals into humans.**


	6. Chapter 5: Exposition

**CHAPTER 5:**

**EXPOSITION**

"Sooo, should I be jealous that you spent so long with Hermione?" Eto asked Harry in his room shortly afterwards.

"Sen," Harry said, using her penname, "it's not like you to be a _yandere_."

"Hey, I know you, Harry. I'm not actually jealous. And if she got too close to you, I'd just threaten not to sign her books. That'd have more effect than a death threat," Eto said with a smirk. Then, perhaps a bit more contemplatively, she said, "I was just meeting some of the other brats they have here. There's some ginger banshee by the name of Weasley, didn't think too highly of me for being a horror author. Bitch. I liked those twins, though. They love pranking, apparently. Their younger brother, got a bit of an inferiority complex, but apparently he likes my books too, and he normally doesn't read. Just be warned, he seems to have a bit of a terminal case of foot-in-mouth syndrome. Not actually bad, just tactless. The old dog's a bit miffed that he wasn't told about where you were when he escaped Azkaban, though. Dumbledore knew you were in Japan, but that was about it. He decided that, with the Dursleys listed as dead thanks to the Ghouls, he should leave you alone. Sirius wasn't happy, though."

"If he tried approaching me in Japan, he might have been arrested or killed for being a fugitive murderer," Harry said. "Anyway, I can't fault him for being absent from my life, given how, well, he was in prison, and spent the past couple of years as a fugitive."

"Yeah. There was some other guy who knew your parents, Lupin. I asked why he didn't look after you. Apparently, he's a werewolf, and they're treated only barely better than Ghouls. They can't hold down jobs normally, and are excluded from usual adoption channels. I'm surprised they let me in, but then again, this Fidelius Charm is a pretty nifty security system. I wouldn't be able to talk about this to anyone not in the know. Anyway, you'll be invited to the meeting of the Order of the Phoenix. That Weasley woman seemed to think you were too young, but Dumbledore wants you in on this. Baum's attending too. I'm not allowed, so I've got to entertain the others. I'll be talking to Hermione and her parents."

"I wonder why I'm getting special treatment," Harry mused.

"The old man's guilt," Eto remarked. "He feels responsible for what happened. That being said, Baum told me to warn you, a guy called Severus Snape will be there. He knew your parents, had a thing for your mother, hated your father, and is the Potions teacher at Hogwarts. Oh, and he's apparently Dumbledore's spy in the Death Eater camp. He might have…issues with you, as Sirius told me you look like your father, though you have your mother's eyes."

"Hmm. How long do you intend to stay?"

"As long as I need to. We'll talk away from prying ears later,' she said, indicating a portrait on the wall.

* * *

Eto was right, Harry reflected. Molly Weasley, while he could tell she meant well, was rather patronising and thought him a child. He hadn't been a child since the Dursleys sold him to the Ghoul Restaurant, and while he appreciated the apparently genuine concern, he didn't like being treated like a child…well, unless he did something truly childish.

"Mrs Weasley, with all due respect, I am a Provisional Investigator for the Commission for Countering Ghouls," Harry said as she tried once more to tell him to leave. "I have also been summoned to this meeting because it has useful information for my duties. So please don't tell me to leave again."

"Molly," Baum said. "He is correct. Harry has something of a record in dealing with Ghouls in Japan. Of all Investigators working for the CCG in Japan, Harry is one of only two people before the age of twenty to have attained a badge awarded for those who have killed an S Rank Ghoul. His older brother is the only other."

Molly seemed about to object, only for the man who was her husband to murmur something to her quietly. As they argued quietly, Harry finally met Remus Lupin, a haggard, careworn man with a scarred face. Harry thought him a wimp, a bit like Dumbledore or Eto's father, but he probably had lesser mistakes to atone for, and was probably less of a hypocrite. But he seemed affable enough, and there was something about the scholarly, self-effacing man that appealed to Harry more than Sirius.

He then made the rounds of some of the other Order members. He greeted the Auror Kingsley Shacklebolt, an imposing dark-skinned man, and Mad-Eye Moody, who looked like one of Frankenstein's rough drafts for his monster. However, it was Professor Snape that he considered more.

The man was tall and thin, with lank black hair framing a lugubrious face that vaguely reminded him of Alan Rickman. Dark, pitiless eyes peered down at him, his nose rather large. There was a scrutiny there, and a wariness. A Death Eater turned spy for the Order? Harry wasn't sure whether he should trust him.

Still, Harry decided to make the first step. "Good evening, Professor Snape. I hope that we can work together to deal with this." He held out a hand.

Something shifted in the man's eyes. Not quite respect or anything like that, but a tension had certainly lessened. "Perhaps we can, Provisional Investigator Arima."

The tension in the room also lessened at this, and there was something of a relief. Harry took his place at the table, next to Baum, and listened with half an ear to the various reports of Voldemort's activities, the smear campaign against Dumbledore and Neville Longbottom (exacerbated by Augusta Longbottom's belligerent attitude), and the appointment of Dolores Umbridge as a High Inquisitor at Hogwarts.

"Question," Harry said. "What is a High Inquisitor, exactly? From what I was told, technically, it means someone appointed by the Ministry to ensure that the teaching standards of the school is up to scratch. However, I am under the impression that Umbridge is being sent to be Fudge's little hatchetwoman, to stir up trouble and dig for any juicy blackmail material, or make stuff up. What, exactly, does she hope to find?"

Dumbledore cleared his throat. "…Fudge is under the mistaken impression, not helped by the whispers Umbridge, Malfoy, and the more prominent Blood Purists drip into his ear, that I am cultivating an army with an intent to overthrow him. He believes that army will be comprised mostly of Hogwarts students."

Harry shook his head. "And here I was thinking Minister Tohsaka back home was a paranoid moron. Is Fudge stupid, or is it the money the Death Eaters slipping him?"

"A little bit of A, a little bit of B," Sirius said.

"You must understand, for much of his earlier career, Fudge became reliant on me for advice," Dumbledore said. "Malfoy played on this, and turned Fudge against me, rather subtly, bribes aside. Fudge now believes I was doing so to make him my puppet. In addition, he is not a wartime Minister. He never wanted a war to happen again. And Voldemort has been feared for good reason. Fudge cannot even contemplate the possibility that Voldemort had found a way to cheat death. Indeed, many wizards cannot either."

"And yet, he did," Harry said.

The meeting continued on, until they began discussing Voldemort's current activities. He listened as Baum asked, "What is Voldemort's interest in the Department of Mysteries?"

"There are many things. You're well aware of one of them, Investigator Baum," Dumbledore said. "There is also the possibility that the notes Augustus Rookwood made on his possible Ghoul hybrid project may be kept, but Algernon Croaker has enough influence over his brother, Saul, and other Unspeakables to stonewall us, citing secrecy concerns. We have been looking at his residences, as has Voldemort and his followers, but neither have been successful. It is possible Rookwood placed some sort of charm on his notes to avoid detection."

"What is the first thing that you mentioned?" Harry asked.

Dumbledore looked pensive, before finally admitting, "A prophecy was made about a child who would have the power to defeat Voldemort. The terms of the prophecy could have meant you or Mr Longbottom."

"A prophecy? And he believed it?" Harry said flatly. "Hasn't he ever read stuff like Oedipus? Prophecies are mostly shit, and even when they aren't, they're still dangerous. Especially if the wording is ambiguous enough."

"You sound like you don't have much belief in prophecy," McGonagall said.

"…Because it makes it seem like the world and humanity is at the mercy of a higher power, that there's no such thing as free will, just something predetermined. If a God dictated that I was to become a Scrapper, what kind of deity would allow that? No…it's just us, and the random caprices of nature. It's a scary thought, but it's better than an apathetic or villainous deity. At least then, you can do something about the world, try to make it a better place, instead of just struggling futilely against fate."

"…Very well said," Dumbledore said. "While I do not agree with such nihilism, it is better to be a nihilist with morals than to be simply nihilistic. However, Voldemort does believe it, and he only heard part of it before he targeted your family, and the Longbottoms."

"Anything further on what he is doing with the Ghouls?" Baum asked.

"The Dark Lord is currently trying to corral them," Snape said. "However, it is something of a difficult task, perhaps thankfully. Two of the more difficult cases are from Japan: Yakumo Omori, aka 'Yamori' or 'Jason', the other…Naki, I believe his name was."

"Jason is a recent escapee of Cochlea," Harry said. "There were rumours he and Naki headed over here. S Rated, _rinkaku kagune_."

"…What?" Molly asked.

"The standard nomenclature for the CCG is to use the Japanese terms for Ghoul's anatomy, for the most part," Baum said. "A _kagune_ is the weaponised limbs they can extrude from their bodies. The types they have are dependent on where their _kakuhou_ organ, the main organ producing their RC Cells, are situated. A _rinkaku_ generally emerges around the waist or hips, and generally takes the form of tendrils. Ghouls with those are generally noted for their regenerative ability and brute force ability, but are less able to defend themselves. _Ukakus_ emerge from the top of the shoulders, and generally take the form of wings, continually forming and reforming. They're built for speed and long-range attacks by firing shards of crystallised matter, but they lack stamina due to the high turnover in RC Cells when they use it. A _koukaku_ emerges from around the shoulder blade, and generally combines defence and offence, but often at the expense of speed. Finally, _bikaku_ are basically weaponised tails. This will be amongst the material I teach the students at Hogwarts."

"If Umbridge will let you," Harry muttered.

"You have a point, Harry," Baum said. "I've met her, unfortunately, and she is, to say the least, a most unpleasant woman. She will definitely seek to undermine us. I would suggest that you refrain from any overt retaliation." A sardonic smirk touched her lips. "Of course, anything deniable and that doesn't actually injure her, well…Chairman Washuu sent you over here to be somebody else's problem. Let's make sure you are hers. Just refrain from letting Edward out around her. It might give her due cause to dismiss us both…"

* * *

Eto rolled her eyes at the Weasley Twins' antics. Looking over at Hermione, as well as Ron and Ginny Weasley, she said, "You know, if they were trying to make an effort to keep this secret, wouldn't they ward it against such things?"

"My dear Sen Takatsuki…"

"We have already thought of that!"

Eto sighed. Not at the finishing each other's sentences. Rather, it was the fact that they thought they could break spells woven by someone like Dumbledore. An old fool and a hypocrite he may have been, but he probably forgot more magic than these two would learn. "I don't get it," Ginny pouted. "Why is Harry in there, but not us? He's our age, right?"

Eto chuckled. "Silly girl. He may be our age, but he's also the adopted brother of the CCG's Reaper. _CCG no Shinigami_ in Japanese, or the Death God of the CCG. He may not be on Kishou Arima's level…but keep in mind, he's a Provisional Investigator at a young age, one only his brother attained."

"So? What's so special about this Arima guy?" Ron asked.

"Kishou Arima is the only Dove to have taken on the One-Eyed Owl and managed to make more than a scratch on him," Eto said, rubbing her arm unconsciously, remembering that day very well. "He's even taken down Ghouls with a rating higher than S. He is, bluntly, the strongest Investigator in the CCG worldwide. And Harry has been trained by him for years. The thing is, he's gone through events that robbed him of his childhood. He's an adult in mind in many regards. Not all the time, he knows when to have fun, when to play. But…he's broken inside, bluntly. That being said, you can count on him to protect you if push comes to shove."

"…But he's crazy," Ron said, with what Eto realised was a habitual lack of tact.

"The most interesting people usually are…"

**CHAPTER 5 ANNOTATIONS:**

**So, there you have it. Harry's met some of the other Potterverse characters, and learned some of the situation. Dumbledore mentioned the prophecy (but not the details) because he wanted to keep Harry's trust. He's already discreetly looked for the Scarcrux, and found it missing. Plus, we might have Harry and Snape working together, if not in a friendly manner, then in a cordial one.**

**Review-answering time! ****rmarcano321****: The UK actually had a pretty strong film industry, and indeed, many famous films (including many ****_Star Wars_**** and ****_Indiana Jones_**** films) have been filmed there, regardless of whether they show the more famous landmarks of London or not. The Hammer Horror films and the Carry On franchise are also two of the famous British film franchises. Plus, Britain in general, and many of its cities (including London) in particular, has a lot of old historical sights that are iconic. The accents, however, have little to do with it.**

**Guest****: Dumbledore's crimes here are more of ignorance than malice. I had considered doing a Dumbledore-bashing story (with a twist), but decided it was one subplot too many. Harry isn't going to forgive him anytime soon, but he will be civil and cooperate, though he won't appreciate being fed BS and kept in the dark. He thinks living well is the best revenge. Eto might see things differently, and if Dumbledore got himself killed, Harry would just shrug.**

**Leicontis****: I have one word for you: Potions. I used a similar idea in ****_Raptor of the 20_****_th_****_ Ward_****, and even that wasn't my idea. Lunarwolf11021 coined that, AFAIK, for one of her own stories in the same crossover.**

**DZ2****: I haven't watched the Tom Cruise version of ****_The Mummy_****, and after the reviews it got, I am reluctant to do so. I did watch the special features on the DVD I got from the library (while considering watching it), including the one on Jekyll and Hyde, and it was good to watch the footage, but the version from ****_Jekyll_****, played wonderfully by James Nesbitt, surpasses Russell Crowe, with all due respect to Crowe (I enjoy him as an actor). He's just so hammy and camp, you can't help but laugh at him even when he's doing something vicious or violent. I've seen many versions of Hyde (later ****_The Quatermass Experiment_**** remake actor Jason Flemyng's version in ****_The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen_**** and Robbie Coltrane and Shuler Hensley's double act for ****_Van Helsing_**** included), and James Nesbitt surpasses them all.**

**And thanks for your praise. ****_Tokyo Ghoul_**** is, quite easily, one of the best horror franchises I have ever experienced, and given my recalcitrance towards horror in general, that's saying something. I think it's because it takes a holistic view to the horror, looking at how such creatures would affect society. It's well worth a look, especially if you enjoy reluctant vampire stories, because ****_Tokyo Ghoul_**** pretty much starts off the same way. If you want a start on the canon story (as this is set about eight years before the canon of ****_Tokyo Ghoul_**** begins), try either my fanfic ****_Raptor of the 20_****_th_****_ Ward_****, or else read the manga, which is the better version of the original story. The anime's good for the first season, a few bits aside, but the second season (dubbed ****_Tokyo Ghoul √A_****) goes off the rails, and while there's great character moments, Ken's character arc was screwed over, IMO.**

**No numbered annotations this time.**


	7. Chapter 6: Mending Bridges

**CHAPTER 6:**

**MENDING BRIDGES**

Harry was hurriedly poring over a curriculum and lesson plan Baum had written up for Defence Against the Dark Arts classes, lying on the bed in his assigned bedroom. Thankfully, he wouldn't be needed after the first couple of weeks, at least on a full-time basis, though he would be needed for lessons that emphasized Ghouls and anti-Ghoul countermeasures. Eto was lounging around on the bed next to him, scribbling notes on her next book.

"Ah, the joys of teaching," she hummed cheerfully. "I'm being sarcastic, of course. Maybe doing this to you is some sort of disciplinary action by Chairman Washuu? Maybe by punishing you by having you teach a bunch of brats, some of whom are older than you, he'd have you on more of a leash."

"Nah. He's just making me SEP: Somebody Else's Problem."

"Ooh, Douglas Adams. Classic. He's also probably hoping to have you cause trouble for the London CCG. The influence of the Washuu clan is lessened here, and they don't like that." She cuddled into him, inhaling his scent. "…Even if they didn't actually send you here to die, I doubt they'd be worried that much if you did die, Harry. Unless they ended up pissing off the Reaper. You know, I'm thinking of getting rooms in Hogsmeade while I'm in Britain. Maybe we could…" She waggled her eyebrows in a very suggestive manner.

Harry blushed. While he and Eto were quite intimate with their relationship by this point, they hadn't quite taken the final step. Their age was a very important factor, of course, but another was the dangers involved. Kishou Arima had warned Harry about the potential consequences of him getting Eto pregnant, and not just because of the usual problems involved with teenage pregnancy.

While Eto was a half-Ghoul, she was also a relative rarity, with half-human hybrids like Kishou being the norm. And that was if the child survived the pregnancy. While they couldn't be sure whether these problems would affect Eto, given that she could eat normal food in addition to eating human flesh, most problems with a hybrid had to do with the mother and the foetus. If the mother was a Ghoul, the foetus could potentially be mistaken for nutrients due to being part-human, and get reabsorbed. A human mother, unless they resorted to cannibalism, couldn't supply the human flesh nutrients.

There was also the fact that V and their paymasters in the Washuu clan were still keeping an eye out for Eto. They suspected the One-Eyed Owl to be the daughter of Kuzen Yoshimura, their former agent, and if they realised the truth…well, Kishou said that Eto dying would be a mercy. It was possible, given her relationship with Harry, that she might be abducted, along with Harry, and forcibly inducted into the Sunlit Garden's breeding program. The thought of potentially introducing magic into the program was something Tsuneyoshi Washuu was giving serious thought to, according to Harry's big brother, and turning Eto into a brood mare would be a fitting revenge against Kuzen for betraying V.

Thinking about Tsuneyoshi Washuu made Harry growl in concert with Edward, at least mentally. The tales Kishou had spoken to Harry about the chairman's exploits sickened Harry to the core. While the likes of Dumbledore and Kuzen Yoshimura pissed Harry off, given their pacifistic ways in order to atone, he could at least understand them. Tsuneyoshi Washuu, however, was not just a hypocrite, but a monster. His family headed up an organisation to hunt Ghouls, despite being Ghouls themselves, and didn't do so out of altruism, but rather, out of megalomania. Power and control. What he did to those in the Sunlit Garden, both personally and on his orders, would have labelled him a sex offender of the worst kind many times over. And thanks to inbreeding, the Washuu and their offspring had a gene pool that made many of those in magical society look deep by comparison.

In any case, Harry had taken time to get comfortable with Eto's gestures of physical intimacy. Half the time, she did so to troll him. And while Eto was a beautiful girl, in a sort of dishevelled, shambolic way, he didn't want to take advantage of that. Hell, neither did Edward. As much as he claimed to be the embodiment, amongst other things, of Harry's lust (he loved to say, "_If Harry gets a hard-on, I'm it_"), Edward was not a rapist. He was Harry with loose inhibitions and even looser morals, but the latter were certainly not absent in Edward.

It didn't stop one of his hands from snaking over to Eto's lovely derriere and gently kneading it, eliciting a husky moan from the One-Eyed Ghoul. His hand then moved up to her back, and then her shoulders, gently rubbing them, less carnal but certainly no less intimate. In fact, he gently rubbed the area where her _kakuhous_ were situated, and if done the right way, like he was doing, the sensation was very pleasurable. The moan Eto emitted this time was less carnal and more contented, like someone eating a delicious meal.

In Japanese, Harry murmured, "You are my angel, even if you have to hide your wings." Any eavesdroppers would have thought that merely a term of endearment, but he was referring to her _ukaku kagune_.

"I'm a pretty cruel angel," Eto responded with a smirk, before humming a few bars of _A Cruel Angel's Thesis_, the famous theme tune to _Neon Genesis Evangelion_. They'd once gone in cosplay to a convention a few months back. Harry had gone as Shinji Ikari, and Eto as Rei Ayanami, complete with plugsuits. God, she looked great in that plugsuit…and according to Eto, so did he. She'd groped his arse a couple of times to confirm that.

There was a knock on the door, spoiling the moment. "…You two decent?" came the voice of Remus Lupin.

"No, we aren't, you killjoy!" Eto snapped. "This wasn't what my first time was supposed to be like, someone interrupting it!"

A bit of spluttering at first from the other side of the door, before Lupin said, "…I know you're lying. I'd be able to smell it, otherwise. I can smell some pheromones, and that's it. I'm just worried if you're decent."

"We're fine," Harry said. "Sen's just being a troll."

The door opened, and Remus Lupin and Sirius Black entered. "…A troll? She doesn't look big, stupid, or ugly," Sirius said.

"It's a Muggle term, Padfoot, deriving from the internet," Remus explained. "Harry means that she's messing with us."

"Bingo," Eto said. "But we were still having a moment, and you two are…gooseberries, I believe you British call it?"

"Sorry…" Sirius said, holding up his hands. "It's just…the last time I saw Harry was when I handed him over to Hagrid and rushed off after Peter Pettigrew like an idiot. And Moony here last saw him some months before that, because we thought he was the traitor. When I heard from Dumbledore what happened to you, I damn near strangled him with his own beard."

"We both did, Sirius," Remus said. He then returned his gaze to Harry. "I wanted to apologise for not being there for you, Harry."

"…Okay, I accept that…but…I know you're a werewolf, thanks to what Baum told me," Harry said. "Werewolves are treated like shit in Japan anyway, even if they're half-decent, just a step or two above Ghouls. As long as you aren't going out savaging people like that bastard Greyback I keep hearing about, we're cool. Though you didn't try approaching me at the Dursleys."

"That was my own fault, listening to Dumbledore, I'm afraid," Remus said. "After the war ended, I was in a bad way. Your parents, two of my strongest friends, were dead, and they had thought me a traitor. Sirius, I had thought, betrayed us. The Longbottoms were dead too. It was a couple of years before I could even consider coming back. Dumbledore and I had an argument about the whole issue of adopting you. He pointed out the Dursleys were your family, but I knew Petunia despised Lily. In the end, it didn't really matter, as the law prevents werewolves from adopting. By the time I mustered up enough courage to try again, and to hell with the consequences…well, the Dursleys had taken you to Tokyo by then."

"…Well, at least you're admitting your mistakes," Harry said quietly. "And I'll give this much to Dumbledore, he did too. I still don't trust him, not completely, but I'll still work with him. Just keep in mind, don't expect me to treat either of you like family, not yet. As far as I am concerned, you two are strangers. I'm not saying we won't become like family over time…but I don't trust people that easily."

"You seemed to trust Hermione pretty easily," Eto pointed out.

"Muggleborn, daughter of Doves, and she reminds me a little of Amon, only with much less of a stick up her arse. Plus, she has to have serious balls to want to be a Dove, despite all the horror stories her parents must tell her. It's not that I truly trust her per se, but she impresses me. Plus, she enjoys your books, Sen."

Eto gave a smile not unlike a contented cat as she conceded the point. Looking to change the subject, Sirius remarked, "…So, managed to snag yourself a cute little writer as a girlfriend?"

"Yeah. My big brother introduced me to her. She was orphaned by Ghouls soon after she was born, and she was abandoned to fend for herself," Harry said, using the cover story they'd worked out. "They encountered each other while my big brother was fighting the One-Eyed Owl, as she was living in pretty crappy conditions at the time. Shortly before she got published for the first time, we were introduced."

That was actually a fairly accurate summary, albeit telling lies of omission, like that Eto was the One-Eyed Owl in question, that the Ghoul who killed her mother was her own father (albeit on the orders of the Ghouls and half-humans working for V), and that she was actually left with an acquaintance of Kuzen's, Noroi, in the infamous 24th Ward.

"I actually read some of your books before, actually," Remus said. "I was surprised you were so young, Miss Takatsuki."

"Just call me Sen. Miss Takatsuki makes me feel old. I get annoyed with the whole honorific thing we have in Japan. _San, sensei, sama, dono_ and all that crap. And thanks. As long as you're not a scary stalker fan who'd make Ghouls look preferable by comparison, I really appreciate the praise." She frowned at him. "You can't get much steady work as a werewolf, right?"

"…No. I can get occasional casual work in the Muggle world, but because of the Statute of Secrecy, I can't reveal exactly why I need a few days off every month," Remus said.

"Hmm. I have an editor, but maybe I could use a PA. I know you're probably old enough to be my father, but you seem like the sort who is somewhat competent. Plus, I'll give you time off to deal with your…ahem, monthly problem," she said with a smirk.

"I don't want charity…" Remus began, but Eto cut him off.

"I know what it's like to live in an impoverished shithole, not knowing when the next meal will come. This isn't charity. This is an opportunity that I'm giving you to show that you're more than a wimp who ran out on Harry. You'll get money, allowance for the fact that you turn into a monster once a month, and a chance to reconnect with him."

"…Do I get a chance to be a pet dog?" Sirius asked.

"Meh, you're a fugitive who'll probably get executed by the Aurors back home anyway. I'll get back to you about it. Besides, I doubt Dumbledore would appreciate me poaching you guys for now. You'll be needed against Voldemort and his little band of sycophants."

"You seem rather accepting of your boyfriend going up against Ghouls, Sen," Remus observed.

"I know how capable he is. I've seen him in action. Edward doesn't come out all the time. He only comes out when things get messy. Harry…well, he's nowhere near Kishou Arima's level, but he puts some of the more seasoned Doves to shame. Admittedly, a good chunk of that is due to his magic, and another good chunk is due to his big brother putting him through pretty hard training, Bluntly, I'm already resigned to the fact that Doves have a short lifespan. But Harry has no intention of dying. He'd prefer to make his enemies die first…"

* * *

Augusta Longbottom glared at the missive she had in her hands. **_That boy_** had come back to Britain. **_That boy_**, the one who was the rival to her frankly disappointing grandson. She wouldn't have known normally, but she had a spy of sorts within the Order of the Phoenix. Well, really, an obsessed fangirl that she screened the letters of. So she was an inadvertent spy, one she only encouraged for information's sake. Frankly, she wouldn't let anything as common as a _Weasley_ or a _Prewett_ marry into the family, let alone that _Lovegood_ tart her grandson wanted to wed. He didn't seem to understand lately how she did things for his own good, and for her own, but in her mind, the two concepts were utterly synonymous. Even if the reality of the matter was entirely different.

**_That boy_** was going to be a problem, she just knew it. A _Dove_, a vulgar little Ghoul-killer, was going to be training her grandson, and possibly influencing him? Possibly wanting to kill her grandson and take his place? After all the hard work she and Algie had in trying to get the boy up to snuff?

Augusta Longbottom was ambitious, vicious, and her intellect had become highly specialised in trying to mould her grandson into the hero she thought he should be, helped by her brother Algernon Croaker's ambitions. Algernon died shortly after her grandson's second year at Hogwarts, a victim of a Ghoul, and Saul, that traitor, abandoned her.

In truth, Augusta Longbottom was an intensely self-centred woman, who wanted to make a lasting impression on Magical Britain, by hook or by crook, and she blamed aught but herself for anything that thwarted her. Her son, his tart, and her grandson for being too soft and weak. The Potters for allowing her son to die in their home. Dumbledore for being ineffectual. Fudge for listening to Death Eaters and their money. Umbridge for being a spiteful little toad. Algie for dying. And so on and so forth.

In other words, Augusta Longbottom was a spiteful cow. She didn't care who died, as long as she remained on top. And while she hadn't always been that way, the reflected fame of her grandson had infected her, bringing her worst traits to the fore. Age and senility didn't help.

**_That boy_**, however, was the tipping point, where an obsession began the slow journey down into madness. So, she began making plans, not knowing or caring that if she succeeded, things would get worse. As long as the bad things happened to other people, she didn't care…

**CHAPTER 6 ANNOTATIONS:**

**So, Harry and Eto have spent some time bonding, as well as with the surviving Marauders…and we get a glimpse into our primary bashing target for the story, Augusta Longbottom.**

**Now, while Neville was never going to really be bashed in this, Augusta was another kettle of fish entirely. I must confess, she's one of the canon characters I despise, given that she seems to turn a blind eye to what Algie did to poor Neville, and constantly pressures Neville into trying to make his parents proud. This version of Augusta was inspired by Detective Fox's now-deleted revision of his crossover with ****_Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, Rise of the Night Sky_**** (the original had a standard Potter brother WBWL plot, and is still available). She's basically a combination of the worst aspects of the bashable Dumbledore and James Potter, hungry for prestige, mostly senile, and utterly convinced that her way is the only way.**

**The next chapter will have the train ride to Hogwarts, with Luna and Neville.**

**Review-answering time! ****animeromance1972****: Oddly enough, it's Draco who points out the whole age thing. After their first DADA lesson, Umbridge actually tries to cultivate Harry as an ally against Dumbledore and Neville. Harry refutes that by citing his professionalism, oddly enough, and points out that interfering with a CCG operation, which the teaching gig counts as, is a punishable offence. However, he also offers, if not an olive branch, then a diversion for Umbridge: he mentions the experiments Rookwood undertook and the fact that the DOM are being recalcitrant about releasing them, and so asks if she can bring pressure to bear. This is actually quite canny, as Harry plays on her desire for acclaim while throwing a potentially juicier target than himself out there, possibly distracting Umbridge from her crusade against Dumbledore and Neville.**

**That being said…hmm, would Draco or Umbridge be the first to feel Edward's wrath? I think Draco would. Umbridge, for all her nastiness, has just enough savvy. After all, she navigated the corridors of power within the Wizengamot. Draco, however, has coasted by on his father's prestige and what little cunning he can bring to bear, and while Edward won't leave any lasting physical damage, Draco is still gonna be scarred for life…**

**Jostanos****: You're probably right. I despise canon Snape, and this is frequently reflected in my stories. However, while Snape may see Harry looking superficially like his father, he sees a very different attitude, and having been forewarned by Baum, he's reserving judgement. I think they'll be courteous and civil…unless Harry finds out that Snape was the one who told Voldemort about the prophecy. Then, Edward will come out to play. Or maybe he'll be given to Eto as a plaything.**

**No numbered annotations this time.**


	8. Chapter 7: Train of Thought

**CHAPTER 7:**

**TRAIN OF THOUGHT**

Harry could have done to Hogwarts via Floo or Portkey, but he opted, if only because of the novelty of the experience, to head there on the Hogwarts Express. Baum was there already, waiting for him. He'd brought with him his Quinques, and what other materials he needed. After considerable negotiation, Eto was coming with him, if only to see Hogwarts once.

Harry was going, as was Baum, in the usual outfit of the CCG, aside from snazzy suits. A white trenchcoat over said suit. Wizarding robes could go screw themselves.

Harry soon found the carriage he was looking for. Ron and Hermione were Prefects, of all things (well, Hermione was definitely prefect material, but Ron? He wasn't a bad bloke, just…not what Harry thought of as responsible or mature), so he was able to look for his quarry. And soon, he found him.

He knocked on the door politely. Eventually, he got a rather wary, "Yes?"

"Sorry, may I come in?"

There was a brief conversation, before the door was opened by a rather dotty-looking blonde girl with wide, pale eyes. "…Yes, I think you can. And bring your strigine(1) friend with you," she said.

Harry entered, sitting down opposite the occupants. One was the girl, and the other, a rather stocky boy about his age, holding a vaguely cactus-like plant in his arms. "Good morning," he said politely. "I am Provisional Investigator Harry Arima of the Commission for Countering Ghouls, and this is Sen Takatsuki. I will be assisting Professor Baum in teaching you Defence Against the Dark Arts."

The boy, rather anxiously, gave him a wan smile, and said, "Hi. I'm Neville Longbottom."

Harry's first impressions of the Boy Who Lived was that he was a wimp. Then again, given the descriptions of the escapades he went through from Hermione and Ron, well, Harry was surprised he wasn't more anxious. Timid, yes, but there was something in those eyes that Harry had a small smidgen of respect for. Small, because he could tell he would have his work cut out for him. This boy was in danger of folding under pressure.

"And I'm Luna Lovegood," the girl said with a sunny smile.

"Good to meet you two."

"…Excuse me, Sen Takatsuki was it?" Neville asked timidly. "Are you a Muggle?"

"I'm an author…though I suppose you could call me a Muggle. I am well aware of the magical world. I was just curious about Hogwarts, and wanted to see it before I headed back to Japan."

"You're allowed to do that?" Neville asked.

Harry chuckled. "Try telling Sen not to do something, and she'll do it anyway. She's like a cat."

"Mrowr," the green-haired Ghoul deadpanned.

"Funny. I would have picked her as being an owl," Luna remarked.

Now, Eto was indeed wearing a rather cute shirt with an owl on it, but still, there was something about the blonde girl's comment that had them both on edge. But then, she turned to Neville. "…I'm sorry I couldn't come over. Even if I wasn't with Daddy, searching for Crumple-Horned Snorkacks, your grandmother doesn't like me."

"…I don't think she likes anyone, save for herself," Neville muttered. "She keeps firing the tutors she sends me because she thinks they're not doing enough to whip me into shape. I…I don't want this!" he snapped. "I don't _want_ to be the Boy Who Lived! She's trying to make me into something I'm not! I'm not brave, I'm not powerful, I'm just…just Neville."

"…Neville…if it weren't for you, Hermione would have been ground into paste by that troll. Quirrell would have gotten the Philosopher's Stone, Ginny would have been taken over completely by that diary…even if you aren't the Boy Who Lived, you're still one of the bravest people I know," Luna said quietly.

Eto smiled. "Yep. Even though you're a scaredy-cat, you act anyway, right? It may be a cliché, but that is true bravery, acting in spite of fear, not without it. Besides, even if you aren't, Harry here will whip you into shape. Whether you like it or not."

"…Sen, please don't," Harry said quietly, before he returned his gaze to Neville. "I'll be honest, I don't believe in that Boy Who Lived crap. But a lot of people will expect you to be, aside from your grandmother. I've got to help you be ready for whatever comes your way."

"…Must be easy for you," Neville said, looking away, his face a mixture of resentment, envy, and even some admiration. "You're an Investigator, you hunt Ghouls for a living, and…"

"…And my status is due to hard work. Push-ups, sit-ups, and plenty of juice," Harry said, perhaps a bit more flippantly than he intended. "My big brother put me through very intense training. I'm nowhere near his level, even what he was like at my age. It's not easy, being an Investigator. Turnaround is high. But…I do it to try and make the world a better place." Taking pity on the stocky boy, he leaned forward. "You wanna know something? The old fart in charge of the CCG in Tokyo sent me here because he couldn't stand me pranking him."

This broke the ice, as Neville chuckled nervously. "Really?"

"Yeah. Like one time, I booby-trapped one of his parcels with a dye-bomb. They usually use those in banks to mark bank robbers. He had a beard almost as long as Dumbledore's, and he had to shave part of it off," Harry said, chuckling at the memory. "I also laced his coffee supply with laxatives. Same for his grandson. His son…well, he's a nice guy, so I didn't dose him. Actually, I recently gained an apprentice in pranking. I was forced to have his initial training overseen by a collaborator of mine, due to being sent here, but I see great things happening with him…"

* * *

"The key to a truly successful prank, young Suzuya, is a balance of anger, humiliation, and impotence," Kureo Mado remarked sagely, as he sat next to the young albino boy, watching Itsuki Marude tearing off rather girly-looking stickers from his motorbike, including one that proclaimed the bike to be Rainbow Dash. There was even a loudspeaker playing the theme to _My Little Pony_ that Marude tore off the bike and stomped on. "You want your targets to have that right mixture of being undeniably and utterly pissed, but unable or unwilling to come after you. You either do that through either covering your tracks, or doing petty but annoying pranks that they can't retaliate against you overtly without seeming petty themselves. I must say, your first true prank is not bad."

Rei Suzuya bowed to the pop-eyed Dove. "Thank you, Senior-Sensei-Senpai. But…I just want to know…is there something about that bike that makes you want to ride it, headfirst, into a Ghoul stronghold to make an awesome entrance?"

"…You know, I never thought of it like that, but now that you brought it up, I can't help but agree, Young Suzuya," Mado said.

"Oh good, so it isn't just me," Rei mused.

Walking over to the pair was the familiar burly form of Shinohara, who looked at Mado and Suzuya, then at the bike, then at the pair, who didn't even bother looking innocent. Arima, who was following him, said, "It seems that we do not have to worry about a lack of interesting events in Harry's absence, do we?"

Shinohara sighed resignedly, though a smile twitched at his lips anyway. "…Pile of paperwork's gonna be as tall as the CCG HQ, I just KNOW it…"

* * *

Harry knew Eto was laughing inwardly at the thought of the chaos Kureo Mado and Rei were cooking up. He certainly was. "…An apprentice in pranking?" Neville asked.

"The problem with the CCG, as with any long-running institution, is that it becomes calcified, being run by men with ten foot sticks up their arses," Harry said bluntly. "All about rules and regulations. Plus, Japan is VERY big on hierarchy, more so than here. I may be a member of the CCG, but I am also an iconoclast."

"Meaning, my little mini-Reaper likes to stick it sideways to the stuck-up idiots in charge of the CCG," Eto purred.

"…Oh dear Merlin, have you met the Weasley Twins already?" Neville asked plaintively.

Harry nodded. "Yes, but…I prefer to work with people I know. I have given them some pointers about how to use more mundane materials for pranking. And I've introduced them to the joys of wasabi."

"…Wah-sah-bee?"

"It's a paste made from the Japanese horseradish," Eto supplied with a smirk. "Very hot, too. It's used with sushi and other dishes. It'd put hairs on your chest, I'd bet."

Harry then noted the plant clutched in Neville's arms. "_Mimbulus mimbletonia_," he identified.

"That's right," Neville said, smiling. "How did you know? Are you into Herbology?"

"Not exactly. My magical education is mostly geared towards DADA and related subjects. But I also look for possible sources of pranking entertainment. And Stinksap is wonderful for placing into random places in one's superiors' offices. They kept thinking I somehow had a cow take a dump in there," Harry cackled.

As Neville, Luna and Eto joined in, the former somewhat nervously, the door slid open, and Harry found his good mood evaporating with it. The reason was that a boy with coldly handsome and pinched features, framed by immaculate blonde hair, stood in the doorway, a prefect's badge on his robes. He just screamed trouble, his demeanour arrogant. Oh, and he was bookended by a pair of thuggish-looking minions who looked like they were grown in a vat.

"What do you want, Malfoy?" moaned Neville.

"Manners, Longbottom, or I'll have to give you a detention," the boy sneered.

Oh joy, a Malfoy. Harry had heard of their arrogance through Sirius and Remus, and heard stories from Ron and Hermione of one Draco Malfoy. This must be him. Harry said, calmly, "And where are your manners? You did not knock on the door before entering. Or does a Pureblood think himself above such niceties?"

"…And you are?"

"Provisional Investigator Harry Arima of the Commission for Countering Ghouls. Teaching assistant for Defence Against the Dark Arts," Harry said, his tone clipped. "And this is my girlfriend, Sen Takatsuki."

"…A Muggle, no doubt," Draco made the mistake of sneering. "Hogwarts definitely is going to the dogs if they allow the likes of her in…"

Harry stood, and stood confrontingly close to the boy, glaring at him. "…Now, you listen to me. She is only visiting, because she was curious about Hogwarts. She is aware of magic, and frankly, it is people like you, overprivileged twats who think blood and money mean more than intelligence and talent, that give her a bad impression of wizards. For your information, she is a successful author, and has been for the past couple of years, whereas I doubt you have written anything more lengthy than an essay, Draco Malfoy. I presume that is your name?"

"Yes, it is!" Draco snapped. "And you will regret your words!"

"No. I won't. I've been told you have a habit of threatening to tell your father whenever things don't go your way. Let's put it bluntly. I'm more scared of Ghouls than I am of your father, and I fight them, and kill them, on a regular basis. Hell, I'm more scared of my own big brother, or haven't you heard of the CCG's Reaper in Britain? And the thing is, I don't go running to _him_ every time I have a problem, as he usually has better things to do. I try to solve my problems myself, unlike you. Now, I'm not sure how the pecking order goes, but I think even a teaching assistant outranks a prefect, and if I see you abusing your authority, I will come down on you like the proverbial ton of bricks. So, in conclusion, thank you, fuck you, and goodbye." With that, he slid the door shut.

"…You know, Harry, it's not sporting to engage in battles of minds with those who are woefully unarmed," Eto snarked. "Not that I'm complaining, mind. I think his brain got rotted away by all the bleach he's been applying to his hair."

"No, that's just the Oxidising Cranial Worms," Luna said blithely. "They're parasites, you see, that cling to the scalp…"

* * *

And so the rest of the train trip passed by, with Eto and Luna discussing imaginary creatures, with Luna agreeing to allow Eto to use some of the more horrifying ones for a possible horror novel, as long as she got credit. Harry, meanwhile, answered some of Neville's hesitating questions about what it was like to work for the CCG. Harry knew, thanks to what Sirius and Remus, along with Baum, had told him that Neville's parents worked in the DMLE.

Harry found himself warming to the Boy Who Lived. True, he was still a wimp, and clearly under the thumb of his grandmother. But he despised that, and he had some reserves of courage beneath his timidity. He would never make it within the CCG, or even the DMLE. He seemed more at home pottering around in a garden. But neither was this boy someone to anger. Despite his fear and timidity, this was someone who would defend his friends to the bitter end, and if he got out from underneath his grandmother's thumb, he would bloom.

However, he knew he was heading into a viper's nest at Hogwarts, mostly because of one Dolores Umbridge. God, he wished he was back home, killing off Ghouls. That'd be much simpler…

**CHAPTER 7 ANNOTATIONS:**

**Don't worry, Harry, you'll get to kill some Ghouls and Death Eaters soon.**

**Oh, on a tangential note, it's worth pointing out that I am far from the only fic to have ****_Janus_**** as a title, including one with split personalities. I say this because a story with the same title and a similar plot device has recently been updated, and while I couldn't say it consciously influenced me, it's still a good story, and I thought I'd put in a disclaimer as well as a plug. This ****_Janus_**** story is by Jaenera Targaryen, and is a ****_Fate/Stay Night_**** story where Sakura unlocks something like the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception…only not quite like that. Give it a shot if you like ****_Fate/Stay Night_****.**

**Review-answering time! ****rmarcano321****: Well, the line between villain and hero is pretty blurry in this fic (Harry is, after all, the boyfriend of a sociopathic cannibal who can turn into a bloody huge monster). But if we're talking antagonists, then definitely Tsuneyoshi Washuu. He made Harry the British's problem.**

**DZ2****: For this fic, I'm not bashing Molly…well, save for Harry and Eto's rather prejudiced opinions, though given Molly's own prejudices, who can blame them?**

**Leicontis****: The ****_Alice in Wonderland_**** reference was unintentional, but apt. And as I told Leicontis in correspondence, Eto has already eaten Umbridge in my story ****_Raptor of the 20_****_th_****_ Ward_****…shortly after disembowelling her (plug, plug). Killing off the Batrachian Bitch in many gory and cruel ways is fun.**

**Guest****: Some Ghouls, like Hinami and the Nutcracker, actually do have what are known as chimaera or compound ****_kagunes_****, so you may potentially be onto something. But ****_kagunes_****' types are generally dependent on the location of the ****_kakuhou_****, the organ that produces the RC Cells for ****_kagune_****. And I don't think Ron would be like Rize. I'd think he'd freak out more like Ken, really, unless you really, really went down the bashing route. Speaking of bashing, while you raise several good points about Dumbledore, he's a flawed but good man here. Though it is possible Harry and Edward may yet retaliate against him if they learn about Snape's role in divulging the prophecy to Voldemort, and Dumbledore covering for Snape since.**

**I considered including the Bond films in my list, but they're produced by an American company, so I decided against it, and I kept the list to films. You meant ****_Joe 90_****…confusing it no doubt with one of my favourite series, ****_Blake's 7_****, which I recommend, if only because Kerr Avon is basically Snape as a computer hacker. And it wasn't Terry Jones, but Gerry Anderson. If Terry Jones did a puppet series, I don't know it off the top of my head.**

**I also personally feel that even canon Augusta knew it, and encouraged it subtly, if only to try and force the magic to come forth from Neville. And I don't go for the fanon that magical babies would fight termination with their magic, which, I might add, I only recently saw in a fanfic, can't remember which. Besides, I think it's more likely that Eto being able to have a normal diet in conjunction with human flesh would be better able to make the pregnancy work.**

**1\. Strigine is an adjective meaning 'owl-like'. Luna is hinting at her knowing what or who Eto really is.**


	9. Chapter 8: Staying Classy

**CHAPTER 8:**

**STAYING CLASSY**

Harry was so glad he managed to avoid Umbridge on the way to his assigned quarters after the opening feast, Eto in tow. He'd only met that Batrachian Bitch once, but it was long enough that he wanted to gut her. She had this wonderfully poisonous, oleaginous manner that barely concealed her blatant self-interest. A bureaucrat who proved the old adage of scum rising to the top.

For all his frustrations with various members of the CCG, they were nothing compared to this woman. Tsuneyoshi Washuu, while stern and harsh, at least concealed his nastier side behind pragmatism, and for all his crimes of being an incestuous paedophile (crimes for which Harry intended to punish him slowly for when the time came), he was also a meritocrat. Itsuki Marude, while equally stern and harsh, gave a crap about his men, his bluster just his way of commanding. Maybe Matsuri Washuu might be comparable, but he at least was honest enough never to hide his dislike of anything, and he had at least better taste in clothing. Plus, he didn't have this saccharine sweet manner that was blatantly false to anyone with a functioning frontal lobe (which sadly excluded a lot of humanity).

However, Harry got that very nasty glare from Umbridge, and her glare got even more poisonous when she looked at Eto, who had been enjoying her time at Hogwarts so far. The glare had happened during Umbridge's speech, when she was making a remark about 'superfluous elements' causing problems at Hogwarts. Harry just used a spell designed to help him mimic Yamato's 'spooky face' from _Naruto_. That sort of blank, wide-eyed stare that made him look like a vengeful spirit of the damned. Edward may be the most vicious and violent part of Harry, but let it never be said that Harry didn't know how to scare the shit out of people if need be. Or disconcert them, anyway. The spell merely helped with the lighting effect on the face.

Thankfully, Baum brought them most of the way, with Harry's quarters not far away. The room itself was pretty snazzy, for being in a medieval castle. And the bed was just big enough for them to share. He'd been sharing a bed with Eto at 12 Grimmauld Place, much to the disgust of Molly Weasley, and the bemusement of most of the other adults. Harry was used to sharing a bed with Eto for a few months now whenever he slept over with her, with her calling him a 'cuddly Dove plushie'. The two hadn't gotten around to sleeping with each other in more than the most literal sense, though they had done a few other intimate activities.

Once the door had closed, Eto pouted. "…Okay, first impressions of Hogwarts? Love the food, even if it's a bit on the greasy side. Hate the MC Escher architecture already. And the toad infestation, well, the less said about that, the better. Seriously, I still hate the old goat for what he put you through, but Umbridge? Rude! She'd give any Ghoul who ate her the runs."

Harry snorted, knowing she was referring to herself, but with a portrait on the wall that could potentially report what they said to the headmaster or other unwanted ears…well, he had to hope that there were no detection wards, or at least none that could pick up a One-Eyed Ghoul. And if that turned out to be the case…well, he could claim something about Quinques affecting said wards. "…She's going to be trouble," Harry said. "I mean, I knew she'd be, given what Baum, Dumbledore and the others said, but…"

"Yeah, I know. I'm going to write her into one of my stories, just so she can die a slow painful death," Eto muttered, frowning in thought. "Hmm…should I rip off Viserys Targaryen's death from _A Game of Thrones?_ Nah, a waste of good molten gold to pour onto her head. Plus, too quick. Hmm…there's what I heard John Clark does to a pimp with a decompression chamber in _Without Remorse_, that has potential."

"And what does he do?"

"I was looking up some rather nasty torture techniques for one of my stories in _Monochrome Rainbow_. Apparently John Clark shoves some pimp into a decompression chamber for divers, and varies the pressure inside to give him the Bends, until the guy's basically braindead from all the nitrogen bubbles and burst blood vessels in his brain." Eto made a face, crossing her eyes, and making her tongue flop out, as a macabre emulation of what she thought the victim looked like afterwards. She looked more like Sylvester McCoy in a gurning competition(1).

"Maybe you could have her butchered by Jason? You know how much he got off on torture since escaping Cochlea," Harry said.

"You are wicked and cruel, Harry. You're sure _you're_ not the horror writer?"

"I could never match your mastery of language, Sen," Harry said. "Or your cruelty."

"Oh, my dear Harry, you wound me so!" Eto said in mock outrage. "No sex for a month!"

"…We haven't had sex yet," Harry said, deadpan.

"Well…we could be!" Eto pouted. Not that they were going to do so just yet. Eto was just being a troll, partly to Harry, and partly to any eavesdroppers. Besides, while Eto had fairly good self-control, sometimes, when they were making out or caressing each other, her _kakugan_ appeared.

"…Let's just shower and get ready for bed," Harry muttered.

* * *

After breakfast the next morning, Eto was sent on her merry way to Hogsmeade, ready to take the Floo back to London, and to the hotel she had arranged there for sightseeing…and for preparing to punish the Ghouls who sided with Voldemort. Meanwhile, Harry prepared for what he knew was going to be an arduous day. Thankfully, Umbridge didn't sit in on their classes for the first part of the day…but that came to an end during the double lesson they had at the end of the day, teaching the fifth years.

Baum and Harry stood at the end of the classroom, with Umbridge having taken a seat nearby, a notepad in hand and an unctuous expression on her face that fooled neither of them. Once the students had been seated, Baum began.

"Good afternoon," Baum said, leaning on her walking stick Quinque after taking the roll. "I am First Class Investigator Amber Baum of the London branch of the Commission for Countering Ghouls, and your Defence Against the Dark Arts professor for this year at Hogwarts. This is my teaching assistant, Provisional Investigator Harry Arima, seconded from the Tokyo branch of the CCG. Now, before we get started on the lesson, let me make something very clear. Your education in this subject over the years has been rather potted, to say the least. Your first year was taught by a stammering imbecile who, I am told, was actually a dark wizard looking to sabotage your education. Your second year was taught by a fame-hungry imbecile who now resides in St Mungo's, thanks to his favourite spell, the Memory Charm. Your third year was a different matter, taught by a werewolf, but one who gave you a good background in both dangerous creatures and defensive spells. Your fourth year, despite being taught by another dark wizard masquerading as Mad-Eye Moody, was nonetheless another success story, albeit concentrating on dark spells and defending against them."

She glared at them, daring them to make some sort of comment. Even Umbridge didn't break the silence, though it couldn't have been out of anything like courtesy. Perhaps it was just curiosity, to see what Baum would say.

"Regardless of the truth of what the Ministry of Magic or _The Daily Prophet_ claims, there are immutable facts in life. Grindlewald and Voldemort are merely the latest in a long line of dark wizards, and the rise of another is inevitable. And even if that does not happen, dark creatures such as Dementors, werewolves, and Ghouls will exist for a long time afterward. It is my solemn duty to prepare what could very well be the next generation of Aurors and hit-wizards for when that time comes, as well as teach you how to protect yourselves. Therefore, I will brook no disruption to this class, regardless of which quarter it comes from."

Although her glare was directed at the students, Harry knew that the words had been meant for Umbridge especially. And thankfully, the Batrachian Bitch, while bristling somewhat, held her tongue. However, someone else wasn't so intelligent. "And what qualifies Arima here to be a teaching assistant?" drawled Malfoy. "He's our age!"

"When it was discovered I had magic," Harry said, stepping forward, "my big brother and his superiors suggested that I enter an accelerated course with the Japanese Ministry of Magic, specialising in Defence Against the Dark Arts. They wished for me to learn appropriate skills to act as an Investigator for the CCG." He turned to Umbridge. "You may ask the Japanese Ministry for the appropriate documentation and records if you haven't already."

Oddly enough, he got a thoughtful nod from Umbridge.

"In addition, Provisional Investigator Arima has over a year's practical experience hunting and killing Ghouls. Aside from his brother Kishou, he is the only Investigator to gain a Single White Wing badge before he left his teens. A White Wing Badge denotes having killed a Ghoul of S Rank or higher. Even seasoned Aurors or Doves would find that a difficult feat," Baum said. "It is also worth pointing out that Arima will not be here as my assistant all the time. He will be undertaking occasional missions for the British CCG. In addition, while there will be a number of lessons on Ghouls, due to a number of them emigrating to Britain, my main task will be getting you all up to snuff for your OWLs. That being said, let's start this lesson with a crash course on Ghouls. Miss Granger, I will call on you to answer only if nobody else does. So…what defines a Ghoul?" A blonde-haired girl on the Slytherin side put her hand up. "Yes, Miss…Greengrass, wasn't it?"

"Yes, Professor Baum. A Ghoul is a human-like creature that is an obligate cannibal, unable to consume normal food or drink, save for water or coffee. They can extrude _kagune_, limbs made of a form of liquid muscle. Their bodies are generally impervious to mundane weaponry, save for high level weaponry. Magic is another matter, but they are resistant to spells powered below a certain threshold."

"Good. 10 points to Slytherin. Now, someone from Gryffindor, aside from Miss Granger, tell me how CCG Investigators, despite many of them being Muggles, combat Ghouls?" A boy raised his hand. "Yes, Mr…Finnegan?"

Seamus Finnegan, an Irish boy, said, "Well, you use the Ghoul's kagunes against them, don't you? Call them Quinques? And you also use bullets coated in Quinque Steel."

"Good. 10 points to Gryffindor." Baum then activated her Quinque, the walking stick splitting apart, revealing a lazily-waving tentacle, like a fleshy rope covered in spikes of bone. "This is my personal Quinque, Maenad, derived from the Ghoul who made it necessary to actually use a walking stick. This is a _rinkaku kagune_-based Quinque."

Harry opened up his cases, fitting Murasaki over his right hand, as well as holding one of the Yukimura swords. "Murasaki is also a _rinkaku kagune_-based Quinque, while Yukimura is derived from a _koukaku kagune_. You will learn about what these terms mean shortly."

"And keep in mind that Quinques are Muggle technology," Baum said, deactivating Maenad, while Harry deactivated and put away his own Quinques. "That being said, there is one thing I needed to correct Miss Greengrass on. Ghouls are not human-like creatures, but rather, a human subspecies. There are many tales as to the origins of Ghouls. One possibility is that that Ghouls were created centuries ago by a magical plague that changed the essence of the inhabitants of a legendary lost city in the Middle East that used to be a trading centre. The legend says that the plague was created by a particularly vicious warlock who wanted to take the city over, but denied by its ruler, he decided to spite them by turning them into monsters. Whether that origin is true or not is unknown, of course, and it is a controversial theory, but it's also a scarily plausible one…"

* * *

Oddly enough, Umbridge made few attempts to interrupt or interject. That put Harry on edge. It meant she might be smart enough to test the waters and gather intelligence on them before attacking.

However, after class was done, as Harry went to rest in his quarters before heading to dinner, he heard the already familiar and hated "_Hem, hem_" of that vile woman clearing her throat.

"I have some Strepsils if you need them," he said, turning around to face her. "For your throat. Or are Soothers more your thing?"

She blinked, bemused, before an oleaginous smile came over her face. "Provisional Investigator Arima…I wished to talk to you."

"Then please do so, but I wished to rest before going to dinner, Madam Umbridge, so would you kindly not waste both of our time?"

She looked like she had bitten into a lemon at that, before nodding. "I've done my homework on you, Investigator Arima. You were born Harry Potter, but ended up stranded in Japan thanks to those…Muggle relatives of yours. Relatives you were left with by Dumbledore. Rumour has it that your current guardian, Kishou Arima, rescued you from a rather appalling situation. I know you have no love lost for Dumbledore, and you must see that his star is on the wane, along with that of Neville Longbottom. It would do you no good to be associated with a senile old man and an attention-seeking child with delusions of adequacy."

"I asked that you not waste our time. Please get to the point, Madam Umbridge. The only person I like to run verbal circles around me is my girlfriend, and as she is a writer, that's basically her job. Of course, it may be the job of politicians to do the same, but I have little enough patience as it is, and none to spare to people who dance around the point."

Anger flashed in Umbridge's eyes, before she said, through near-gritted teeth, "A friendly warning, Arima. I would suggest that you do nothing to help Dumbledore and Longbottom, or their associates. Otherwise, you might get tainted by association."

"…So are you suggesting that I don't do my job?" Harry stalked over to Umbridge, and met her eyes, hearing Edward snarl in anger in his head. "One thing that my brother instilled in me is a work ethic. When I take on a job, I finish it. I'll be honest, I hate Dumbledore. But I was ordered to help Amber Baum teach DADA to these students, helping ensure your next batch of Aurors are somewhat competent, and I will do my utmost to succeed. As Senior Undersecretary to the Minister, as well as High Inquisitor, you should be grateful that I am doing as much as I can to ensure that the next generation can survive anything that gets thrown at them. Oh, and incidentally, I also believe Voldemort's back from the dead. Of course, whether you believe it or not is irrelevant, as Professor Baum's point still stands: even if he is gone for good, another idiot will one day take his place, and we need to ensure that your future Aurors are ready. So do not try to sabotage us. Otherwise, you will find out why Chairman Tsuneyoshi Washuu sent me here."

"Are you threatening me? The Senior Undersecretary to the Minister?" Umbridge asked, her tone dangerous.

"There is a clause that states that any person who interferes with any operation of the Commission for Countering Ghouls will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law of the country the offence takes place in," Harry said. "And the wizards of Magical Britain are not exempt from the laws of the British Commonwealth, Madam Umbridge, no matter what you believe. Our being here counts as a CCG operation." And then, his eyes narrowed. "And if you dare try to use Sen as leverage…well, all bets are off. You will find whatever victory you gain to be an absolutely pyrrhic one. Have I made myself perfectly clear, Madam Umbridge?"

"…Crystal," she bit out.

"Excellent. In any case, I will only be assisting Professor Baum on an as needed basis, particularly where our lessons involve Ghouls and self-defence lessons," Harry said. "I will be on call for CCG operations when not. That being said…Madam Umbridge, while we will have to agree to disagree on the subject of Longbottom and Dumbledore…perhaps we can come to an arrangement on another matter."

This got her attention, and she raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"The Department of Mysteries is being difficult in regards to the notes of Augustus Rookwood on Ghoul hybridisation. We believe that this is, at least in part, from the influence Augusta Longbottom had on her late brother, Algernon Croaker. The Unspeakables, despite Algernon Croaker dying two years previously, are still being stubborn. While I don't know how much influence you can bring to bear on the Department of Mysteries…well, the CCG would certainly consider it a service if you could help persuade them to stop being so stubborn. After all, if the Senior Undersecretary managed to put paid to such a dangerous experiment…well, it would go well for her, wouldn't it?"

He had her there. He'd only thought of this on the fly, but he could see the gears turning in her head. After some time, she said, "I'll consider that, Arima."

"Good. Now, if you don't mind, I need to rest. Teaching is rather tiring, wouldn't you agree?" And with that, he left. He had no doubt that Umbridge was no ally, save for being one of convenience. But if she could be persuaded to go after a different target than Longbottom or Dumbledore, and wasn't actually a Death Eater groupie, then maybe she might be useful. Dumbledore, for all his mistakes, was also the only wizard Voldemort was wary of.

Hopefully, then, he could get this resolved before long. And maybe Umbridge could stay the hell out of his way. Of course, that was probably a vain hope…

**CHAPTER 8 ANNOTATIONS:**

**So, Umbridge has been deterred, even if it's probably not for long.**

**Harry's remarks about Jason were actually a last-minute edit. Originally, he made comments about the Nutcracker, as I'm just starting to read ****_Tokyo Ghoul: re_****. However, I didn't realise that the Nutcracker has a canon age in the series: she's apparently 21, according to the wiki, and so, she'd be about 13 here, so she'd probably be too young to be infamous for her exploits. A shame, really. **

**Speaking of the Nutcracker, I've posted a Potterverse/****_Tokyo Ghoul_**** challenge on the usual forums called 'The Nutcracker's Sweet(heart)'.**

**Now, the possible origins of the Ghouls was something you might have seen in some of my earlier attempts at a Harry/Eto pairing in the Cauldron. The reason for Ghouls originating from the Middle East are twofold. The first is that the myth of ghouls in general actually really do come from the Middle East. The second is that, in the backstory of ****_Tokyo Ghoul_****, the Washuu clan come from that region. I made up the whole magical plague thing on the fly at the time I first wrote it.**

**As for making Umbridge…well, I won't say nice, but I will say willing to listen, just keep in mind, while Harry doesn't really want her help, he gave her that info about Rookwood in the hope that she might be able to help out in that regard, as well as getting her away from causing trouble at Hogwarts. And Umbridge is a political animal. While her main focus will still be on deposing Dumbledore and dragging his name and Neville's through the dirt, she is also hungry for fame and power. In this fic, as well as canon, I don't see her as a Death Eater as much as an opportunist of the worst kind. If managing to uncover Rookwood's notes gets her acclaim from the Minister, the DMLE, AND the CCG, then she'll take it.**

**Also, she does have just enough sense of preservation to know that crossing Harry or Baum directly (for the moment) is a bad idea, especially as Harry has made some parts of the law clear. While she doesn't care about Muggle law, she also knows that the CCG have just enough resources to make things difficult for her. She's going to bide her time until she can remove them, but she's got just enough savvy to realise that, given their logical arguments, she can't depose them easily.**

**Anyway, next chapter should be some more Eto action…**

**Review-answering time! ****DZ2****: While Eto is not exactly friends with Luna yet, they'll have something of a correspondence. Luna, being as open-minded as she is, probably accepts Eto as a Ghoulfriend…ahem, girlfriend very quickly.**

**1\. Sylvester McCoy is the actor who played the Seventh Doctor in ****_Doctor Who_****, as well as Radagast in the Hobbit films. He can pull some rather grotesque faces, known in Britain as 'gurning'.**


	10. Chapter 9: Attack of the Owl

**CHAPTER 9:**

**ATTACK OF THE OWL**

Eto Yoshimura sat on the bed of her hotel room in London, bouncing up and down. This was a simple pleasure she never got to experience as a child, and she just enjoyed the simple sensation of enjoying bouncing on a mattress. Yet another of life's simple pleasures her father denied her when she was left with Noroi.

An intellectual part of her knew she was being a little unfair. If her father had truly wanted her dead, he could have either done the deed himself, or else left her to fend for herself in the 24th Ward, or given her up to V. Instead, she had to say, as hellish as that life was, Noroi was a good guardian, at least until V, sniffing around, robbed him from her, forcing her to use part of her _kakuja_ to turn him into what was little more than a puppet, a zombie.

But her father was also trying to scrub away the sins of his past by running a coffee shop, of all things. Anteiku, it was called. He and his followers subsisted off suicides they scavenged. Yoshimura didn't even try to change the world, try to find a way to bring down V, and the Washuu clan. All he was was content to sit on his wrinkled old arse and try and forget his past by serving coffee to humans and Ghouls. Oh, she could understand trying to protect the Ghouls under his aegis, and to be fair to him, he did good work. But in Eto's eyes, it would never be good enough. Thanks to him, she endured over a decade living in Hell on Earth, growing up stewing in despair and hatred.

It was only her fateful encounter with Kishou Arima that gave her any cause for hope. And even then, Arima wasn't the one who truly gave it to her. Oh, they cooked up their little One-Eyed King plan, based on the Washuu rebel from a century ago whose remains lurked deep within the 24th Ward, and that gave her something to strive for. But it was Harry who gave her hope, a desire to live beyond the fruition of the plan.

It was Arima who introduced them, shortly after Eto made her first step onto becoming an author. Eto viewed the boy warily, especially as Arima confirmed that he was training the boy to become a Dove, to say nothing of his past as a Scrapper and the existence of Edward. And yet, his first words, beyond the greetings, were, "**_You're_**_ the One-Eyed Owl? Thought you'd be taller._"

Eto should have felt insulted by that. And yet, oddly enough, the sheer bemusement and lack of insulting tone actually made her laugh, loud and long. Not her usual laughter, too scornful and cynical and lacking in mirth for a girl her age. His eyes showed that, for all his wariness, Harry made the decision to treat her like she was a girl his age, and not one of the most infamous Ghouls in Tokyo.

This wasn't to say that they truly hit it off from the start. Their relationship for the first few months was undeniably rocky. And yet, the fact that he made her laugh was the first part of a bridge between them.

Eto smiled ruefully to herself. A human, making her feel such things, actually giving her such treacherous feelings like hope for the future. Then again, he was as broken as she was, if not more so. It was one of the reasons why she loved him. As Tyrion from _A Game of Thrones_ said, she was fond of cripples, bastards, and broken things (while she read a lot of Japanese literature, she also devoured what Western literature she could get her hands on).

Oh, her love for him wasn't exactly healthy, though it was far better than the love she would probably normally feel. It was a possessive love, a love that could see her labelled as a _yandere_. But not in the way many were portrayed back home in Japan. She wouldn't kill any girl who so much as looked at Harry funny, or else Hermione would not have survived their first night at 12 Grimmauld Place. In truth, she found the bushy-haired bookworm interesting, for all her worship of authority and bossiness. Rather, it was a protectiveness of Harry, though she knew he could look after himself very well.

But while possessive, it was also a genuine love, twisted though it was. She knew this because…well, there were few people she'd be willing to die to protect, and only one of them was a human being. She let him have his distance when he needed it, and he let her have her own. There was mutual respect, and not just of their respective lethality, but their worth as people. He made her feel _wanted_, not for her worth as the One-Eyed Owl, or as Sen Takatsuki, but as Eto Yoshimura. In other words, he made her feel like her life not only had value, but one beyond all the treasures in the world. Her, a Ghoul, the very creature he was supposed to hunt.

She was very well aware of the literary trope of the starcrossed lovers, and she despised it. Tragic love, while a great concept for stories and certainly something she'd have no compunction about inflicting on her characters, experiencing it for real was another matter. She was no Juliet, committing suicide to be with her Romeo out of some foolish pubescent infatuation. Hell, she despised that Shakespeare play for the reason that Romeo and Juliet probably didn't have true love, but teenage infatuation.

No, if Harry died, she would not follow him until she did her damned best to destroy the CCG, and to hell with collateral damage! True, she was trying to bring down the organisation and the Washuu backing them, but she was trying to be more subtle, make sure that there was something left to be used to govern the world that remained. Whereas if Harry died…well, she would ensure as many people shared her pain and misery before she followed him to whatever afterlife existed, if any did at all.

Her thoughts were interrupted when her burner phone trilled. It'd be very early in the morning there, given that it was barely eight o'clock here, but it seemed Tatara wanted to talk to her. So she answered the phone. "_Moshi moshi?_"

"_Eto_," came the distinctive calm and collected voice of Tatara. "_Enjoying yourself?_"

"Yep. Got my little Portkey ready to shuttle myself back and forth between London and Tokyo, thanks to Harry. Uncomfortable as fuck, but what can you do? Wizards wouldn't know how to make a comfortable means of transport to save their lives. Well, save for magic carpets, and apparently there's an embargo on them in Britain. Anyway, Tatara, did you call just to say hi, or is there something else?"

"_Yes. When Voldemort's agents approached us, I took the liberty of persuading one of our lesser members to go with them, to act as our spy. He has been returned to us…in pieces. I recognise Yamori's handiwork._"

Eto scowled. "Damn. Either someone got suspicious and got Yamori to torture it out of him, or else Voldemort or one of his followers used Legilimency and discovered this. Tatara…how much of him is missing? Specifically, his _kakuhou?_"

"_His _kakuhou _has been extracted, Eto, and surprisingly cleanly. And that is disturbing. Yamori would not extract it so cleanly if he wished to feed on it._"

"…Which means they needed it for something else," Eto mused. "And with those rumours around Rookwood looking to perform some sort of hybridisation experiment…I have a bad feeling about this, Tatara. Rookwood, according to Baum, is still in Azkaban. However, she wouldn't be surprised if sooner rather than later, Voldemort staged a breakout."

"_He would have to contend with those soul-sucking demons guarding that place. Then again, he'd doubtlessly claim they can feed on souls with impunity. That could sway them to his side._"

Eto nodded. "Did your spy report back where he was being based?"

"_His particular group was based at Battersea Power Station_," Tatara said.

"Hmm…well, I think I should go and see the sights…"

* * *

One little-known fact was that the _kakuja_ of a Ghoul was not immutable. With time and a little effort, one could change its appearance, and not just through the usual growth it had via cannibalism. She even heard rumours of one Ghoul who could use their _kakuja_ to actually disguise themselves as other people.

The reason for this contemplation was simple: she didn't want any reports about the One-Eyed Owl being in Britain. Someone might put two and two together to make four, and as four had connotations of death in Japan, you could see why she was concerned. After all, if someone put together the presence of either Harry or herself together with the appearance of the One-Eyed Owl, well, things would get needlessly complicated.

She also chose a different costume to the one she usually wore while working with Aogiri Tree. Instead of the hooded dress and the bandages wrapped around her body, Eto simply donned a hooded tracksuit and donned a facemask she had picked up in a novelty store that depicted a caricatured version of Margaret Thatcher. Apparently, according to what she heard, it was a popular disguise choice for British Ghouls, particularly those who grew up during the Eighties.

She was, surprisingly, let in to the so-called secret lair without much trouble. All she had to do was unleash her _kagune_ to show that she was a Ghoul at the door, and then, they were let in. She was thankful they didn't look for her _kakugan_, as she only had the one, and a One-Eyed Ghoul would have raised all sorts of red flags.

As it was, the meeting was rather small, maybe a score of Ghouls, and with a pair of humans, Death Eaters given the getup, at the front. Either they had backup, or some sort of emergency Portkey. Otherwise, they'd have to be pretty ballsy to be standing in the midst of a number of Ghouls.

"Who're those wankers?" she asked in her best Cockney accent, which was admittedly pretty damned cod. She could speak English almost like a native(1), thanks to Harry's tuition and watching some movies and TV, but she still, normally, had a slight accent. She thought exaggerating a Cockney accent might work to disguise that. If called out on it, she would just claim she was trying to disguise her real voice…which was the truth.

The Ghoul next to her muttered, "The Carrow twins, Amycus and Alecto. Probably just as well. If the Dark Lord sent Macnair, we'd be feasting on him tonight."

"Macnair?"

"Walden Macnair, one of the headsmen for the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures," he said. "Bastard killed my sister with that Quinque axe of his. You…do know about the Ministry of Magic, right?"

"Only found out a couple of years ago. I've been more concerned with the fucking Doves," Eto retorted.

The Ghoul next to her nodded. "Ain't that the fucking truth," he muttered. Eto liked him…until he said, "By the way, uhh…are you seeing anyone?"

"**_Yes_****_. And I'm _****_sixteen_****_._**"

"…Uhh, okay."

Great, she was here on a mission, and she got hit on by some Ghoul who hadn't got any for a while. And probably much older than her, given his voice and smell. Her thoughts of bloody vengeance against the lech were interrupted when one of the Carrows clapped their hands. "Hey, order! Order!" cried out a woman's voice. "Shut up, you cannibalistic cockheads, and listen!"

That got silence, and more than a few glares with _kakugans_. Eto had to stifle a giggle. The alliteration on 'cannibalistic cockhead' wasn't too bad.

"The Dark Lord is pleased with the number and quality of those who have volunteered to join us," the woman, presumably Alecto, continued. "Rest assured, the spies and traitors have been dealt with most thoroughly. When the time comes, you shall be our vanguard in establishing supremacy over Muggles, upon whom you will be allowed to feast with impunity!"

Over the sounds of cheering, Eto thought, _Huh. She's actually doing quite well with the speech…wait a bloody moment…is she looking at a note?_

Alecto continued, "That being said, the Dark Lord has decided to test your resolve. To this end, you will be attacking a number of targets around London over the next few nights. And then…" Alecto suddenly did a double take, as her crib notes were no longer in her hand, but rather, being read by Eto, who was standing behind them. Then again, when the mood took her, Eto could be so fast, she'd be basically like one of the _Bleach_ characters using Flash Step or Sonido.

"I called it," Eto remarked. "Wow. You can't even do an evil villain speech without crib notes? I'm unimpressed. Look, I can give you pointers, though it'd help if you had improvisation skills and…" Eto dodged a rather nasty-looking spell from the other Carrow twin, and scowled. "Rude."

"Give me back my notes!" snapped Alecto.

"Umm, **_no_**. Seriously, if you need to put your evil villain speech on notes, you're doing it wrong." She noted down the locations on the speech, before she threw them into the air, and turned them into confetti with her _kagune_. Then, an impish smirk touched her lips as the Carrows stared in horror at the crib note confetti, and acted. When they finally looked at her again, her hands were filled with bloody shards of bone. "By the way," she said to the other Carrow twin, "you dropped these. Your ribs." She let them drop to the ground just as the Carrow realised he had been ripped open. A Ghoul with a decent regeneration ability would survive that, but a human?

Blood burst out of the mouth slit of the skull mask, and the man collapsed. "AMYCUS!" Alecto screamed.

Eto flared her _kagune_, before she roared, "Any of you shitheads want to die, then STAY RIGHT THERE!" And with that, she began firing shards of crystalline matter from her _ukaku kagune_, descending on the Ghouls present in a hailstorm of crystal. The smarter ones were already fleeing. She also deliberately hit Alecto with some, not enough to kill her, but enough to prevent any naughty retaliation by Alecto.

Soon, the room was clear of Ghouls, and Eto looked at the bodies. Amycus was still moving, barely alive, so Eto casually kicked his head, making it sail into the air like a soccer ball. "Oops," she giggled. "I don't know my own strength." Which was bullshit. She did know her own strength.

"…Amycus…" whimpered Alecto. "…Bitch…kill you…"

"I'd like to see you try," Eto said. "I left you alive because, well, I studied your tactics. You have personal Portkeys in case things got too hairy, from what I heard. Sooooo…I've left you alive because I want you to deliver a message, to your master, and…do you know a Ghoul called Jason?"

"…That freak?"

"Yep! To Jason, say that I'm gonna make his stay in Cochlea seem like a stay at a hot springs resort by comparison. And to Voldemort…tell him he should've stayed dead. If he is one who eats death, then I will be the one to eat _him_. You know, it's interesting…I would have thought the death of your twin would have done something more. You know, those myths about twins being linked and all that crap. Still…I feel the need to leave more of a mark on you." She let her modified _kakuja_ grow forth. "**_Time to PLAY_**…"

* * *

It was a satisfied Eto who returned to her hotel later that night. A shame she couldn't share that outing with Harry or Edward. A good meal, a lot of bloodshed, and she got to make a lot of people piss themselves, if the smell mingling with the blood was any indication. Plus, she caused a bloody mess within a famous landmark, which was always appealing. She done it to so many places in Tokyo, she was getting bored, so doing that in London helped.

Still, she doubted what she did was little more than a fleabiting. She used her burner phone to call the CCG hotline to warn them about the possible attacks, having read the location on Alecto's crib notes before destroying them, as it was possible that there were other Ghoul groups controlled by Voldemort looking to do the same. She then disposed of it, knowing she'd have to get a new one to contact Tatara later.

As she lay in bed, looking at the ceiling, she thought, _The first strike against Voldemort…I hope you still feel fear, Voldemort. Because the One-Eyed Owl has her eye on you_. She grinned viciously, her _kakugan_ glowing gently in the dim room. _And you will know your folly for a very long time ere you die_…

**CHAPTER 9 ANNOTATIONS:**

**Oh dear. Voldemort's in trouble. Eto's drawn first blood.**

**1\. It's worth pointing out that Maaya Sakamoto (Eto's Japanese voice actress, as well as the actress for Mari from ****_Rebuild of Evangelion_****, and Jeanne d'Arc and Da Vinci from the Nasuverse) can speak English fairly well. If you watch the Japanese version of ****_Evangelion 2.0_****, listen to her character, Mari, speaking English. While still accented, it's much better than Kaji's actor speaking English at the very beginning of the film.**


	11. Chapter 10: Horror in Hogsmeade

**CHAPTER 10:**

**HORROR IN HOGSMEADE**

Harry had to admit, he was unimpressed by a good chunk of Hogwarts' staff. True, McGonagall and Flitwick, along with Sprout, Vector, Babbling and Sinistra were all good teachers in their fields, and so you couldn't dispute that Dumbledore was right to keep them here. But there were other problems.

Leaving aside the infamous turnover for DADA teachers at Hogwarts, he'd learned some other things from his students cum allies. History of Magic was taught by a ghost who almost never seemed to stray from the subject of Goblin Rebellions, and the main reason Binns hadn't been deposed was that he had a curse on him, meaning that unless he had tenure, he'd end up cursing the school. Divination was apparently taught by some dipsomaniac called Trelawney who had sod-all talent for seeing the future, and more talent for crawling into a bottle. Care of Magical Creatures was taught by one Rubeus Hagrid, a rather simple half-giant hybrid who, while passionate about magical creatures, had a questionable sense of what constituted safe learning material. He wasn't bad: almost everyone he knew at 12 Grimmauld Place sang his praises as being a decent, gentle soul, and he was currently absent, with a woman called Grubbly-Plank taking his place. But his qualifications as a teacher were dubious.

So too were those of Snape. True, he actually had teaching qualifications on paper. But in practise, he was biased towards the Slytherins, whom he was the Head of House to. In addition, while he did target every other House for spurious point reductions, it was Gryffindors he especially loathed. Harry knew that he was a brilliant man, but it didn't necessarily mean he was a brilliant teacher. Plus, there was the fact that he was a former Death Eater. And one of Dumbledore's little redemption projects, he reckoned.

That being said, the man was at least cordial enough to Harry, and for now, Harry was going to leave him be, unless he caught him doing something that pissed him off. And Umbridge, after Harry gave her both the stick and carrot, seemed content to do some plotting of her own. She was a vile bitch, but she also seemed to recognise a dangerous person, one she shouldn't piss off. For now, anyway.

What was annoying, however, were the Slytherin students. To be precise, a significant cabal of them that gravitated around the children of Death Eaters, and showing that inbreeding does not improve intelligence. True, they made up perhaps a third of Slytherin at most, but they often made nasty remarks that nearly had Harry unleash Edward on them then and there.

He heard about a massacre of Ghouls and a Death Eater in Battersea Power Station, and knew that was Eto's handiwork. Edward cackled, and Harry smiled. It was probably wrong to admire his girlfriend's killings, but considering her victims, he found himself with zero fucks to give.

Then, on Friday, someone made the first strike, via _The Daily Prophet_. It didn't seem to be Umbridge who, despite her poisonous smugness, also seemed surprised. No, given that a certain Slytherin alumnus had been quoted in the newspaper, Harry was certain that it was Draco's father who mounted the attack, prompted by the boy's father…

**_DUMBLEDORE'S BIGGEST BLUNDER YET!_**

**_The Dark Past of Harry Arima!_**

_We at the _Daily Prophet _have brought up the questionable hiring choices of Headmaster Dumbledore of Hogwarts time and time again. But it seems that his decision-making has reached a new nadir with the hiring of Amber Baum as Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, bringing with her Harry Arima as her assistant. This could prove to be his greatest blunder since hiring a werewolf in the same role._

_Amber Baum has already had a chequered past, having been noted for assaulting a Pureblood using the excuse that he tried to sexually assault her. Barty Crouch, then head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, suggested she join the Commission for Countering Ghouls, a suitable place for one of her violent and volatile nature, one of many mistakes he made during his career. In her position, she thrived, working for Muggles who are known for their contempt for the Ministry of Magic and the DMLE._

_The CCG is a Muggle organisation, founded in Japan by Daikichi Washuu, and with branches in most major cities around the world. While their purpose in eliminating Ghouls is of course a noble one, such tasks would be better handled by the Ministry of Magic and its various departments, to say nothing of the respective counterparts in other countries. However, the CCG stubbornly refuses to allow the Ministry to do what is rightfully their own work. The fact that they use Ghouls' own_ kagunes _against them in vicious weapons known as Quinques shows how barbaric these Muggles can be._

_However, for all her viciousness, Baum pales in comparison next to her assistant, Harry Arima._

_Born Harry Potter, he was one of the only survivors of the attack on Godric's Hollow that led to the final downfall of He Who Must Not Be Named. Dumbledore, in his wisdom, left Harry with Muggle relatives after Neville Longbottom was declared the Boy Who Lived. However, this backfired, as on a trip to Japan, his relatives attempted to sell him to a Ghoul Restaurant._

_A Ghoul Restaurant, for those of you who do not know, is a vile place where Ghouls watch as their victims are dismembered and tortured prior to them feeding on the remains. To go into further detail would be to risk offending the sensibilities of our readers, more than we already have. They frequently use brainwashed slaves known as Scrappers, and Harry was turned into one, with his relatives amongst his first victims. Despite this, during a raid on the Ghoul Restaurant by the CCG, Harry was taken into custody by that organisation, particularly under the aegis of Kishou Arima, an Investigator feared as the CCG's Reaper._

_Arima was able to gain custody of Harry, in defiance of all expectations, and instead of returning Harry home, shaped the boy into the CCG's weapon. The boy has been known for disciplinary issues and blatant disrespect of authority, as well as an extreme viciousness towards the Ghouls he hunts, and while our sympathies are most definitely not with the Ghouls, we at the_ Prophet _have to wonder whether he is truly suitable to teach our children. Especially when he himself is but a child._

_"It says a lot about Dumbledore's grasp on reality when he recruits those whose grasp on it is even more tenuous," Lord Lucius Malfoy spoke on the matter when we asked him for comment. "A drunk, a simpleton, and a bunch of Muggle-lovers are bad enough, but someone with such violent tendencies pushes the boundaries of credulity past what is reasonable…"_

It went on and on in much the same sort of drivel. He could hear Edward growling in his mind. And he knew libel laws in the magical parts of the world were far laxer than the Muggle ones, and frequently favoured the Purebloods over anyone else. And he could see the triumphant smirk on Malfoy's face, as well as that of many of his cronies.

He merely gave a cold glare right back, to hide the vicious smirk he was really thinking. One of the things he did was make the acquaintance of a House Elf Longbottom had freed from Lucius Malfoy. Dobby was willing to listen to Harry, and what was more, was more than willing to be a partner in pranking.

At the very least, insults like this deserved some wasabi concealed in Draco's food. Though that would only be the beginning of the punishment. Especially now that many were looking at him warily…

* * *

The next day, the CCG had released a press statement to _The Daily Prophet_ outlining Harry's mission, citing his many achievements in a positive manner, as well as reminding them that interference with an official CCG operation carried heavy penalties. It'd probably piss off the wizards no end, but Harry was out of fucks to give.

Harry decided to accompany some of the others to Hogsmeade, though he took his Quinques with him to the rather quaint village. When asked why by Ron, Harry stated, not untruthfully, that he felt naked without them. In truth, he was also a little worried about attacks from either Death Eaters or Ghouls. Voldemort might be lying low, but given that word of Doves being present at Hogwarts had spread, he might do something to test their strength. It was doubtful he would have to do so so soon. Voldemort would probably wait until Harry and Baum had settled in, with a false sense of security dulling their…

And then the screams started. Screams that, when coherent, only really had one word in common.

"GHOULS!"

Harry, after a moment, fished Murasaki and one of the Yukimura Quinques. "Harry, can I help?" Hermione asked.

After a moment, Harry allowed her to have one of the Yukimuras. "Be careful, and remember, that is a lethal weapon, and act accordingly. The rest of you, either stay close, or get out of here. Ghouls are dangerous. Unless you know Stunners or Body-Binds, you're not going to be of much help."

As if on cue, a Ghoul with a _bikaku kagune_ sprouting from his rear, and wearing a bloodied Phantom of the Opera mask, leapt out from between a couple of buildings, and sped at them. "HERMIT PURPLE!" Harry yelled, flinging the thorny tendrils of Murasaki at the Ghoul, wrapping him up. "Now, the next thing you'll say is: _Let go of me! Don't you know who I am?_"

"Let go of me! Don't you know…what?!"

Harry grinned. "YES! IT ACTUALLY WORKED!" And with that, he reeled the Ghoul in, impaling his head with Yukimura. The Ghoul gurgled and spasmed briefly, before dying. "…You've no idea how many times I've tried to make that work," Harry muttered.

"…What the hell was that all about?!" Hermione all but yelped.

"I'll explain later when we're not in danger," Harry said, before casting a Patronus…an Owl Patronus, tuning out the screams. "Baum, get to Hogsmeade ASAP. Ghouls are attacking Hogsmeade. Numbers unknown, but enough to cause a panic. Granger assisting." He turned back to Hermione as the Patronus flew off. "So, are you going to be…okay?" His hesitation at the end came because Hermione was currently stabbing, in a panicked frenzy, a Ghoul wearing a latex skull mask, and with a _rinkaku kagune_…though that seemed to have done little to the panicking witch. The Weasleys and Neville were looking on in horror at Hermione's savage attacks, their wands slack in their arms, though Luna was looking on with sympathy.

Suddenly, another Ghoul came up behind them, and Harry yelled, "Behind you!" To his pleasure, Neville snapped off a Stunner after spinning around, sending that Ghoul, who had a _koukaku kagune_, hurtling through the shopfront of a window. For such a wimp, Longbottom clearly had good instincts, and once they got over their shock, the Weasleys and Luna got their own wands at the ready. Harry, meanwhile, went over to the ruined shopfront, and stabbed the supine Ghoul through the head. Then, he went over to where Hermione had finished stabbing the Ghoul in a panic, and was breathing hard and heavily.

"Hermione," Harry said quietly, getting the girl's attention. "…Are you going to be okay to stop any others?"

"I…I'll help," she said, hesitantly, but her grip on the Yukimura was strong.

"Right. If you guys feel uncomfortable about killing Ghouls, help anyone who need help," Harry said to the other students. "Hermione…let's go…"

* * *

Under an Invisibility Cloak, Corban Yaxley watched the battle in Hogsmeade from a nearby hill through Ominioculars. He'd be showing the memory to the inner circle via Pensieve later. He wasn't expecting the Doves to make an appearance until later, but as it happened, the Potter brat (only, he was called Arima now) was in Hogsmeade. Which was good for a few reasons.

Setting a score of Ghouls on Hogsmeade served a few purposes. One, it tested the waters of using the Ghouls as a fighting force, albeit before any real training was done. In other words, it tested the reaction of the average wizard to them, and it was pretty disappointing that the wizards fled or froze against the Ghouls. Some fought back, but few managed to get it done right. Two, it got rid of some of the more troublesome and disobedient Ghouls who seemed reluctant to work for the Dark Lord, especially after the massacre at Battersea Power Station. Three, the victims would be harvested for meat using Portkeys. But, most importantly, they wanted to draw the Doves out of Hogwarts and see what they did.

Yaxley had to admit, Arima had serious balls. He remained calm and professional…well, save for some flippancy and savagery. The Mudblood he'd given a Quinque to actually did well, even while clearly afraid. Yaxley may have been a Blood Purist, but he could at least spot talent and ability.

It took a few minutes for that Mudblood whore Baum to make it onto the scene, and by that point, half of the Ghouls were dead, most of them done by Arima, but a few by the teenaged Mudblood. The Boy Who Lived went to help the injured, as did the two younger Weasleys, though the twins joined the fight, using prank items in a rather creative manner. A shame they were Blood Traitors, they had devious minds.

Baum proved she was no slouch either when she entered the fray, despite her injuries. That Quinque changed between whip and lance, impaling and slicing through Ghoul flesh with ease, while she used lethal spells in conjunction. By the time the Aurors arrived, only two Ghouls were left alive, though they were soon put paid to.

Well, it was a mess, but it was an interesting mess. By using those disposable creatures, they had some measure of the Doves' abilities. Baum was a known quantity, given she worked in Britain, but Arima, the adopted brother of the CCG's Reaper, was another matter entirely. They needed to understand what sort of threat he was, and while his reputation was one thing, the reality was another.

He wasn't like the sheep of Magical Britain. Longbottom was competent, but barely, and got away from Little Hangleton a couple of months ago through luck rather than any real skill. But this one…Arima was a threat. Not to the Dark Lord himself, but while these Ghouls weren't that strong compared to some of the monsters like that freak Jason, they were still dangerous. And yet, Arima killed them with relative ease.

Well, he remembered Jason ranting and raving about the Mini-Reaper before. Maybe the sadistic Ghoul might want a chance to get at him. It'd be interesting to see how long the boy had before he broke, especially given his past…

**CHAPTER 10 ANNOTATIONS:**

**So, Harry and Baum have had to deal with their first major Ghoul incursion (with Harry doing his Joseph Joestar routine), Hermione's killed for the first time, and Lucius Malfoy has tried to slander Harry and Baum. Oh dear…**

**Review-answering time! ****PrimeMegalodon****: …Who the actual hell are Klaus Kol and Freya Mikaelson?**

**Jostanos****: I've never watched ****_The Warriors_****, so I can't comment. She'd probably be more likely to emulate ****_Alien_****.**

**No numbered annotations this time.**


	12. Chapter 11: Aftershocks

**CHAPTER 11:**

**AFTERSHOCKS**

In the Hospital Wing afterwards, Harry was staying by Hermione, who was in shock after everything that happened, and understandably. For all what her parents must have told her about what being a Dove was like (and they were currently on their way, summoned by Dumbledore on Baum's insistence), to kill someone, even a Ghoul, was not an easy thing to cope with, not for the first time. Hermione managed to kill a couple more, and acquitted herself very well, but the shock was setting in.

Harry understood that. Even though he was much younger when he made his first kill, and in a deranged state of mind, he knew it couldn't be easy to kill for the first time, even a Ghoul. So he stayed with her, once they were questioned and debriefed by the Aurors who arrived shortly before he made his last kill. Plus, the Ghouls managed to kill or abduct about a dozen people before they were stopped.

Eventually, he said, "…Some people find it easy to take a life, whether it's a Ghoul or a normal human. And when I say easy, I mean easy to cope with it or dismiss it afterwards. It's ridiculously easy to kill people. Believe me, I know from experience."

"…As a Scrapper?"

"Hmm. The Ghoul who bought me went by the name of Murasaki. Yeah, she's where I got my Quinque from. It wasn't her real name, but…she took the name for a couple of reasons. One, her _kagune_ was purple, and 'murasaki' means 'purple' in Japanese. And two, she named herself after Murasaki Shikibu, the author of _The Tale of Genji_. She was the one who bought me off the Dursleys. She managed to persuade them to stay, before faking their deaths and keeping them in a luxury apartment, drugged, while she turned me into her Scrapper. What I went through for a few weeks…well, it was hell, bluntly. I don't like talking about it. And then, I had my first kill, as a test. The man was a human who tried to steal from the safe of the Ghoul Restaurant. Instead, he ended up as dinner. I remember the light leaving his eyes as his blood sprayed out. I wasn't allowed to scream. If I was, I was punished. That was the day Edward was born, with me screaming and crying on the inside, while Edward smiled."

"…That's horrible."

"Yeah. The sad thing is, for all her cruelty, Murasaki was actually one of the better Ghouls there," Harry said. "She let me sleep on a bed in a good bedroom, fed me decent food…her main cruelty was in torturing me in order to turn me into a killer. There's another one, Big Madam, who treated her Scrapper even worse. Rei Suzuya, we only rescued a short time ago. Big Madam would torture him, use 'Good Boy Points' as a means to keep his loyalty, and, well…yeah. Scrappers get the short end of the stick. My point is, I'm not a merciless killer. I kill because I have to, to protect others. And even Edward, for all his cruelty, now only kills those who are a threat to those he holds dear. You killed those Ghouls because they were looking to kill others. You saved people, Hermione. Anyway, I'd bet that your parents will know someone within the CCG who can counsel you."

Hermione nodded morosely. After a moment, she asked, "Is it like that all the time?"

"Worse. Remember, I've gone up against a few S Rated Ghouls. One I managed to kill, even if that was partly from luck," Harry said. "Killing Ghouls is always messy. Even though they're monsters, they look human enough that you can have second thoughts. Many just want to fly under the radar. But there are many who make a sport of killing people, like those that attacked Hogsmeade today. Longbottom surprised me with how he acted. And…well, you did well, Hermione. When you were confronted with the reality of what the CCG did, you acted well."

* * *

Umbridge was caught in that curious state between being absolutely livid and perversely impressed. While she would have much preferred the little freak from the CCG to have gotten killed in that little attack so that the Aurors would get the glory, the reports she wrangled from Dawlish were intriguing. For a twisted little bastard like him, he did well. While it made the Aurors look bad as to how well he took charge of the situation before they arrived, he reduced the loss of life. She intended to make sure that the Aurors got as much credit as possible with _The Daily Prophet_, and Arima's involvement minimised, along with that of the Mudblood, but still…

Umbridge could see that she made the right decision in letting him and Baum have their fun for now. Their response to Lucius' article (well, the one he prompted) was surprisingly measured, despite using that ridiculous Muggle law (one she had full intention of breaking when the time came). She half-expected something more violent.

Umbridge had enough of a sense of self-preservation to know to pick her battles. Of course, if things went badly wrong, she did have a tendency to bluster. But she also knew that Arima would not hesitate to kill her if she did something too blatant, like target that Muggle author.

Then again, Umbridge wasn't sure she wanted to do that. Umbridge had to admit, if only to herself, she actually enjoyed Sen Takatsuki's books. It was a guilty pleasure. Some of the horrible things that happened to the heroes, she wished could happen to her enemies. What nastily inventive minds Muggles had to create such techniques of torture. If anything, Umbridge didn't like the girl for a couple of reasons: she had to have a twisted mind to think of such things; Umbridge didn't like foreigners, and Sen was Japanese; and she was the girlfriend of Harry Arima, an obstacle to her plans.

Though Arima had at least given her an interesting lead. Now, Umbridge knew the little shit was playing her, trying to distract her from Dumbledore and Longbottom and their little cadre, but he had a point: if she helped uncover Rookwood's notes, and exposed the Unspeakables for their attempts to obstruct justice, then she'd get more acclaim, thus solidifying her grip on her power. And while she despised helping that filthy nest of Muggles and traitors that was the CCG, she could swallow her pride if it meant getting somewhere…

* * *

Harry decided he'd had enough of Hogwarts for now. He'd left Hermione with her parents and Baum, as they'd be better able to help her through this. But for now, he was going to go to Eto.

As he left Hogwarts for Hogsmeade, he saw Dumbledore approaching. Apparently the old man was speaking to Amelia Bones of the DMLE in Hogsmeade. "Mr Arima? Where are you going?"

"London. I want to be with my girlfriend," Harry said sharply. "I'm coming back tomorrow afternoon or evening. I've told Baum."

"…I see. But…Harry…while I deplore the fact that you killed…I also understand that you did so in defence of others," Dumbledore said.

"Obviously. Just tell me one thing, Dumbledore: have you ever killed someone?"

"…More than once," Dumbledore admitted after a brief moment of silence. "One time…well, I'm not sure who killed the person in question, but it may very well have been me. And I have fought against Grindlewald's forces during the Second World War. I do not relish the taking of a life, and try to do everything possible to avoid that. It's why I…find myself disquieted by you, Harry."

"Any sane person would be," Harry said, shooting Dumbledore a look. Not a glare, just a flat look. "I'm a killer, Dumbledore. I'm good at it. Best to do so in defence of others than just for my own fulfilment. But there are times when I need to get away from it all, and speak to someone who understands what I'm going through, and understands me. You may have the former down, but you don't understand me. Sen does."

"…And what sort of past does Miss Takatsuki have?"

"…Her father murdered her mother, even if it was reluctantly. Sen had to spend her life in hiding from her father's former associates. She knows what it's like to be broken. That's why I want to be with her."

After a moment, Dumbledore nodded, and gestured for Harry to go by him. But as Harry did so, Dumbledore said, "Harry…cherish the ones you love, always. Because you don't know when they'll be gone. I speak from bitter experience."

Harry didn't respond. He didn't need to. He already knew this…

* * *

Eto had told him about where she was staying in London. So, after taking the Floo to Diagon Alley, he left it and took the Tube to the nearest station, before heading to the hotel. He knocked on the door, and a sleepy-looking Eto answered it, smiling as she realised who it was. "Harry!" she said, throwing her arms around him in a hug.

He loved her, every bit of her. Her short but beautiful body, the messy green hair, the green eyes, that lazy smile she made when she wasn't being psychotic, the macabre grin she made when she was, her _kakugan_, her _kagune_, her _kakuja_, her brain, her heart, her twisted morality…

She pressed her lips to his own and kissed him, and he returned it, even as they went into the hotel room, and shut the door behind them. She broke it off, before whispering in his ear in Japanese, "The room's clean. I've made sure of it. If you want to use privacy charms to make sure, be my guest."

He did so, before heading over to the lounge, and sitting down, Eto following him. He allowed her to bring his head down onto her lap. He was sure many would kill to be given a lap pillow, especially with the famous author Sen Takatsuki, but Eto had done this because she instinctively realised he needed comfort, and was giving it to him. Quietly, he said, "I read about your handiwork in Battersea. Get anything interesting?"

"Called in anonymous tips to the CCG. Had to get a new burner phone. Aside from that, I ate a lot of Ghouls and a Death Eater. Didn't taste that good. Then again, he was inbred, I think. Looked it. Probably was fucking his own twin sister like he was Jaime Lannister, only much less good-looking." As she gently ran her fingers through his hair, she said, "Something happened today, didn't it?"

"Ghoul attack on Hogsmeade," Harry said. "I just needed to get away from Hogwarts. I'm not upset by killing those Ghouls, they were mostly weaklings. It's that people who are under my care got caught up in it. Plus, Hermione had to kill for the first time. She did well…but still…unlike me, she wasn't indoctrinated into becoming a Scrapper."

"Or, like me, having to grow up in the 24th Ward," Eto said quietly.

Harry nodded. "Her parents will get her help. She deserves it. I think, one day, she could be of use to us. I told her about Lantern, remember. Then again…I shouldn't say something like her being of use to us. It's because of what happened to her that…well, I needed to be here. I offered my Quinque to her so she could help, and she's scarred for life. I feel guilty, even if I dunno why."

"You'd be feeling more guilty if she died. That's the annoying thing about you, Harry. You still have a conscience, even as Edward…and you managed to bring mine back from the dead, Frankenstein."

"I thought you said I was more Mr Hyde," Harry muttered with a mock pout.

"Quiet you. My point is…I should hate you for making me less of a monster, even if it's only slightly less…and yet, I don't. We should be enemies, and yet, here we are. The One-Eyed Owl, and the Reaper's little brother. Isn't this absurd? And yet…life is filled to the brim with absurdity."

Harry nodded. "…I just need some time with you. My big brother's on the other side of the world. Besides…we could always go touring London."

"I've been doing some touring myself. Hey, I wanna go to the Tower and Whitechapel tomorrow. I want to see where bloody history was made, maybe fit in Madame Tussaud's and their Chamber of Horrors if we can. You wanna make a date of it?"

Harry chuckled softly to himself. Eto loved the macabre and the dark. You'd think with being raised in such conditions, she'd hate it. But no, she loved that stuff. "Sure. It's a date."

"Goody. I hope you don't mind sharing the bed. I want my cuddly Dove plushy to hold tonight…"

* * *

"…I wish I was like you," Harry murmured as they lay in bed. "I wish I could share your burden."

"Oh? You want to be a monster like me?"

"I'm already a monster, and you know it, Eto," he said.

"You don't want to be like me. I'm a One-Eyed Ghoul. Even if I can eat normal food, a privilege no other Ghoul has, I still have to eat human flesh." She wriggled closer, and gently nipped his ear, not enough to break the skin, but enough to make her point. "Can you live with that?"

"…Yes. Yes, I could. Because…it means sharing your burden, understanding you better. It means being strong enough to help you, to help my big brother. It means being strong enough to bring down the Washuu."

"Even if it means sacrificing your humanity?"

"…What is humanity? Look at you, Eto. You're a monster…and yet, you're also so human. The same could be said about my big brother, or many Ghouls, let alone normal humans. The line between a human and a monster is very blurry…if not non-existent. I wouldn't do this for the sake of power, at least not seeking power for its own sake, to dominate, to destroy."

"_Baka_," Eto murmured wistfully. "You utter moron. Then again…I guess I'm not much different. I have to be an idiot, falling in love with the Mini-Reaper…"

And so, they lay there, the One-Eyed Owl and the Mini-Reaper, taking comfort in each other. They didn't do anything more than sleep together in the most literal sense that night. Instead, they spooned together in bed, two damaged teenagers, sharing warmth and comfort. To Eto, Harry's smell, instead of being enticing and appetising, was comforting. And she was content with that for now…

**CHAPTER 11 ANNOTATIONS:**

**So, some angst and some fluff, even if it's a twisted form. Next chapter, Augusta begins the first step of her own plan.**

**Review-answering time! ****mad thought****: I have no familiarity with ****_Horizon Zero Dawn_****. And as I don't have a PS4, I can't correct that.**

**PrimeMegalodon****, ****ol-11jrw**** and ****Guest****: Okay, so I know of the series, but I haven't watched them. Nor do I have much of an inclination to. Vampire and werewolf series and movies generally don't interest me.**

**BorderLand****: As seen above, she is unused to killing, even monsters in human form. Being the daughter of Doves has helped, but actually performing the act was something of a shock. Harry has tried to comfort her as best as he can, but she'd be better off with her parents and whatever counsellor the CCG can get for her.**

**LoamyCoffee****: I wanted to show them doing something mildly intelligent.**

**Guest**** (regarding a Quinque for Hermione, and Malfoy's lack of willpower): I hadn't thought about that, but your review has basically had me say, yes. She won't be allowed one at Hogwarts, but once she starts at the CCG, she'll be given the one from the Ghoul she killed. As for Malfoy, well, I'm sure he could throw money at his lawyers to sue for slander, and he'd win. A sad fact of life is that many legal cases are not won by evidence, but by money and rhetoric.**

**No numbered annotations this time.**


	13. Chapter 12: Making Moves

**CHAPTER 12:**

**MAKING MOVES**

Voldemort brought himself out of the Pensieve, and frowned in consideration. Yaxley had done his job well, and now he had a problem to consider. While he had heard of the reputation of the CCG's Reaper and his adopted brother cum protégé, he wanted more concrete evidence of the boy's skills. And here it was.

He was impressed, though he would never admit that to a single living soul. The boy had excellent combat ability, though it was mostly through the use of Quinques rather than spells. The few spells he did use were used efficiently, like the best Aurors, and he struck to kill when possible, and to cripple when not.

Voldemort wasn't actually certain that Longbottom was the Boy Who Lived. Voldemort's memories of that night were hazy at best, doubtless due to the rebound effect of the Killing Curse and whatever ritual that accursed Mudblood Lily Potter had used. Voldemort knew he had gone there to kill the Potters, but as the Longbottoms were present, he decided to take advantage of that too, to wipe out any possible threats as elucidated by that prophecy. He just couldn't remember who he turned his wand on first, out of the two brats, Longbottom or Potter…no, Arima now.

However, he was now beginning to realise that Dumbledore had made a mistake, regardless. While both boys had been scarred, with Longbottom's scar now hidden by his hair (a pair of scars in the form of an 'equals' sign on his temple), Voldemort's doubts grew the times he encountered a grown Longbottom. The timid brat had interesting reserves of courage, but he didn't feel quite right as an opponent. Not worthy enough. The fight in the graveyard in Little Hangleton proved that. It was…disappointing. Anticlimactic. One with the power to defeat him would at least prove more of a challenge.

Harry Arima, however, was another matter. He was clearly his parents' child. During his initial clash, he even made some sort of reference to some Muggle series, he had no doubt (that twisted Ghoul Yakumo Omori had earlier made some remark about Arima trying to emulate someone called Joseph Joestar from _JoJo's Bizarre Adventure_, whatever that was), but the rest of the time, he was cold, clinical, and professional. He didn't panic, he didn't hesitate. He killed swiftly, and took charge.

That meant he was dangerous. Very much so.

After thanking Yaxley, Voldemort left the throne room of his headquarters, walking through the corridors until he came to the dungeons they set up in the basement of Malfoy Manor. He began to hear what had become, by now, a familiar litany. "…797…AGGGH! 790…NNNGGGH! 785…"

"NO! 790 MINUS 7 IS **_783_**, YOU STUPID CUNT! PAY ATTENTION!"

"NGAAAAHHHH!"

Voldemort came to a door guarded by one of the Ghouls, a histrionic Ghoul by the name of Naki with blonde hair, an immaculate white suit, and eyes with dark bags, almost like he was wearing mascara. Naki, upon seeing Voldemort approach, rapped on the door. "…Jason, Lord Voldemort is here to see you."

"…Just a moment." Then, the door opened some time later, and the ugly form of Jason walked out.

The Ghoul's real name was Yakumo Omori, but he'd since gained two nicknames. The first, 'Yamori', meant 'gecko' in Japanese, and his face did look vaguely like a gecko, though Voldemort thought he looked more like he smashed his face into a wall one too many times, what with the flat nose, the beady eyes, his ugly face framed by a shock of blonde hair. His other nickname, 'Jason', came from the hockey mask he habitually wore while on the hunt, a reference to some Muggle film about a serial killer called Jason. _Friday the 13__th_, it was called.

"Sorry about that," Jason said, wiping down his hands, getting rid of the blood on them. "This little bitch's a bit too fun to play with. The regenerative abilities she has…anyway, she reminds me a little of my ex-boss, only, this one's got no spine. And she certainly won't once I'm done with her. So, what can I do for you, Lord Voldemort?"

Working with such a disgusting creature as Jason was repulsive, but he had his uses. "Our raid on Hogsmeade was repelled by the two Doves…especially Harry Arima. It seems that the tales of his skills were not exaggerated."

Jason scoffed, doing one of those strange finger cracking tics he did, something that irritated Voldemort no end. "I only know the brat by reputation. That being said, while he's nowhere near the level of the Reaper, even at that age, he's still damned good. He'd struggle against the likes of me, but the reverse is true. I'd have to bring my A-game to beat him. Or have a hostage. He managed to beat an S Rated Ghoul. Even for a wizard, that's no mean feat, especially if the Ghoul in question knows something about magic. That being said, I'd be more worried about the one responsible for killing our guys at Battersea. I'm not that well-known outside of Japan, save for where the CCG is concerned, so I'm guessing whoever did it was a Japanese Ghoul, given that they called me out."

"Who might have a grudge against you?"

"Quite a few, but if I had to pick one…well, it could be one of the members of the Aogiri Tree."

Aogiri Tree. Voldemort had heard the name reported back to him from one of his people he sent to Japan to recruit Ghouls there. A recently formed gang of Ghouls, led by the mysterious One-Eyed King. Jason and Naki had been approached by representatives of Aogiri Tree to join them shortly before Voldemort's people approached them. The little information Jason brought back to him was intriguing. There were two very strong Ghouls currently in charge, or at least in prominent positions: Noro and Tatara.

Of Noro, very little was known, especially as the Ghoul never spoke. However, Tatara was another matter. Jason related what he knew about Tatara. Tatara had once been part of the _Chi She Lian_ or 'Red Tongue Company' of China, before much of the organisation was exterminated by Doves on loan from the Tokyo CCG.

"Alecto said that the one who wiped out her people was a girl or a woman," Voldemort said. "Who could they be?"

"Not much. There's some brat called Miza, the current leader of the Blades gang. I know she's part of Aogiri. Looks like a kid, but she's about 21. Probably excites the lolicons. There was one other, this brat wrapped up in bandages and in a dress, called Eto. I think she's Tatara's pet or something, I only saw her briefly. Then again, there's quite a few women I've pissed off in Japan. There was that bitch who used to lead the Black Dobers, dunno where she's disappeared to. Can't be expected to know the names, faces, and reasons of every fucker who wants to kill me. I wouldn't have enough room in my head for anything fun, otherwise."

Voldemort nodded. "Then I will have my Death Eaters keep an eye on any newcomers to our group. In any case, Jason, I have decided, in light of what has happened, to accelerate our plans. I was intending to wait for a few months before I launched an assault on Azkaban, but with the Ministry becoming more interested in the Department of Mysteries, I feel that to tarry for too long will be to invite disaster."

"…Uhh, what?" Naki asked.

"What he means is that we're gettin' off our arses and doing something fun," Jason said with a grin, cracking his fingers once more. "A mass breakout at Azkaban, right? Now, any of the inmates you don't want, we can feed on, right?"

"Certainly," Voldemort said. What simple, one-track minds these Ghouls had. Feeding on the flesh of humans. Oh, Jason was smart, smart enough to be dangerous, but he still had this singleminded obsession. He even ate his fellow Ghouls. Disgusting. "Incidentally, I believe Igor is recovered enough for you to play with more if you wish."

"Gimme a few hours. I'm nearly done with this traitorous bitch."

"Just remember, we need her _kakuhou_ intact. The few notes we found of Augustus' stated that the _kakuhou_ is necessary for his procedure!"

"I'll let you know when you can get your butcher in," Jason said. "Let's say…a couple of hours. That sound good for you?"

Voldemort nodded. He didn't like the way that the Ghoul didn't seem to be showing him enough fear or respect. Then again, Jason probably thought he was an equal or at least a highly-placed subordinate, not the peon he truly was. Still, Jason had his uses. Voldemort had to admit, none of his Death Eaters were as creative with cruelty and torture as Jason was, even Voldemort himself. Even that counting Jason had his victims do was part of it, to keep the victims lucid while being tortured. And apparently Jason had learned much from a Dove who acted as a torturer.

Still, once Jason's use had reached its end, he would be disposed of. Such a disgusting creature could not be allowed to exist any longer than he had to…

* * *

Augusta Longbottom had taken her time in deciding her course of action against **_that boy_**. Despite her senility and obsession, she knew that she had to act carefully, and with care.

There were a few reasons for that. Because of Fudge and Umbridge slandering her grandson, using the Wizengamot was risky, as Augusta wanted to save as much political capitol as possible to use when the time was right. She was using much to counter Fudge and Dumbledore, as well as prepare a counterattack against Malfoy and his ilk. Using her position on the Hogwarts Board of Directors was risky because of Lucius' influence.

Ironically, it was Lucius' little attack via the _Prophet_ that gave her her current idea. She'd also managed to badger out of her grandson about how they managed to turn the tables on that appalling bitch Skeeter. Which was why she now had that bitch inside her drawing room.

"Now, you know why you are here," Augusta said, glaring down at Skeeter as if she was a deity, though the effect was more like a mafia godfather putting a minion or an associate on the spot.

"Of course I don't know!" Skeeter snapped. "All I got was a terse summons!"

"You do know. You are going to do some work for me, or I will expose the fact that you are an illegal Animagus. After all those years you spent slandering me and my grandson, it's past time you paid restitution for such things."

"Slander is verbal, actually," Skeeter said, with a thin veneer of defiance. "You mean libel, which under the law of Magical Britain…"

"Do NOT try to get clever with me, you spiteful little harridan!" Augusta roared, shocking the harpy with the overly bleached hair into silence. "I have tolerated insolence from all quarters for long enough, especially from the likes of you! Put a single hair out of line, and I will squash you like the bug you are. Am I understood?"

Augusta Longbottom may have been affected by the advent of senility as well as power, but she still recognised the sullen, recalcitrant nature of the agreement Skeeter emitted. She knew Skeeter could only be trusted so far. However, for now, she would obey. "Now then, I have a task for you, one that will require your Animagus form. I need you to dig up dirt on some people."

"I'm not going anywhere near the Purebloods. I'd rather deal with the prosecution over my Animagus form!"

"You'd have little say in the matter, but in truth, they aren't Purebloods. The first is a Muggle author, a writer of horror and thriller trash by the name of Sen Takatsuki," Augusta said. "The other is her boyfriend…" She bit out the name of **_that boy_** from between her teeth. "Harry Arima."

"Hmm? Oh, I see," Skeeter said, an unpleasant smile lighting up her features. "You can't countenance your grandson's little rival."

"What I cannot countenance is a potentially unstable and dangerous individual being so close to my grandson," Augusta retorted, before her glare intensified on Skeeter's unrepentantly sceptical face. "The Granger girl only banned you from writing anything but the truth, and she didn't get any magical vows to that effect. When the time comes, you can write a complete exposé on these two to your heart's content. I want them fleeing back to Japan with their tails between their legs. Then again, if what _The Daily Prophet_ claimed is true, then there is already evidence that Arima is a murderer. A Scrapper has to murder humans for the entertainment of the Ghouls gathered to watch them work, after all. There are doubtless worse skeletons in his closet, and who knows what skeletons that Muggle author has in her own closet? She would not love one as twisted as he doubtless is unless she had something to hide."

Augusta's logic was far from strong. Her argument was based more on paranoid instinct than any sound reasoning. But instincts honed by decades of playing political games told her that there was something going on. Something she could use to rid herself of a rival to her grandson, and put **_that boy_** and his **_whore_** into Azkaban or the ground, where he belonged.

And once Skeeter had outlived her usefulness…well, she'd have her dealt with…

**CHAPTER 12 ANNOTATIONS:**

**So, there you have it. The villains are plotting and twirling non-existent moustaches.**

**Review-answering time! ****rmarcano321****: Harry as an ex-Scrapper, I reckon (at least so far). If you saw Juuzou's past in the manga, you'd understand why.**

**LoamyCoffee****: Yeah. Eto…there's something endearing about her, even though she's one of the main villains of the series. The main reason they're so comfortable with each other is that…well, broken calls to broken. They need each other to fill the parts that are missing in their own hearts. As I have Eto state in the next chapter, Arima's little One-Eyed King plan may have given her purpose, but it is Harry who has given her hope for something beyond that. And given how, in the manga, Haise/Ken knows that Eto (through the books she wrote as Sen) feels nothing but despair and anger at the world, having lost all hope, this is important. Eto actually has hope again, and with it, a little bit of her morality has come back.**

**mad thought****: The only LPs I have watched are those Team Four Star do in-character as the characters they play in ****_Dragonball Z Abridged_****.**

**No numbered annotations this time.**


	14. Chapter 13: Don't Fear the Reaper

**CHAPTER 13:**

**DON'T FEAR THE REAPER**

Eto didn't want to leave England, if it meant leaving Harry behind. But she knew that she'd have to attend to Aogiri Tree business back home, as well as touch base with Arima. Plus, she'd had some good ideas for a novel, and found herself at her best at writing when at home, surrounded by the familiar.

In any case, once she got back to Japan, she left a message in one of the dead letter drops she used to contact Arima. She then met him on the roof of one of the auditoriums at Kamii University a couple of nights later. He looked like a ghost, moving with inhuman grace, his hair flecked with the white of his accelerated ageing. She could smell the stink of his Quinques from here.

He placed down a device she knew to be a magical one, used to prevent eavesdropping if one didn't know privacy charms. Expensive, though. "I've had my reports from Baum and my brother."

"What? No hello, Reaper? No_ I'm glad that you're safe, Eto_, Reaper?"

Arima's lips thinned. Eto was mostly teasing him, as Kishou Arima wasn't generally fond of fripperies, save for in private. "You've not done as much as I thought, Eto. Aside from the attack on Battersea Power Station, you've been flying under the radar."

"That's a good thing, Arima, and you know it," Eto said, turning to look out across the city. "I didn't want to draw any unnecessary attention to myself or Harry. Anyway, I sent the information where Voldemort was going to send the Ghouls to attack in London to the CCG. Wish I knew about the attack on Hogsmeade. They did this to lure him out, see what Baum and Harry could do. Why else would they send weaklings to Hogsmeade? And then, there's that idiot Malfoy and that article he paid for. I'm worried about Harry. You've managed to make him skilled, but…is he ready to confront Voldemort? To say nothing of the S Ranked Ghouls under him, or the politics around this messy situation? All that it will take is for Edward to make an appearance at the wrong time, and they'll vilify him. More than they have already, anyway."

"It just means he'll be back sooner, Eto."

"You know he has this little saving people thing. That's what Hermione called it, one of the witches he's helping teach. She's got him pegged. He doesn't want to leave those inbred idiots to Voldemort and his little merry band of murderers, even if they despise him. Besides, even if he did come back, who's to say Voldemort doesn't follow him? Frankly, if I knew where Voldemort was, I'd go and eat him…well, it's what I would say if I was sure I could beat him and every wizard there. I could probably wipe the floor with most Doves, save for you. Wizards, though…one of them could get lucky with the Killing Curse. I once got hit in the limb by the Cruciatus by an overzealous wizard working with the local Disposal of Dangerous Creatures group while I was using my _kakuja_. Stupid bloody magic."

Arima joined her at the roof's edge. "I don't want him to die either. He's given me something more to live for than being part of the CCG. That I can leave something more to the world than my legacy as the Reaper, or our One-Eyed King plan."

Eto chuckled. "…He wants to be the true One-Eyed King himself. He said something about wanting to be a Ghoul. To share my burden, to help us bring down the Washuu."

"…He does it because he loves us both," Arima said. "For myself, it is brotherly love, no…it's even the love a son has for his father. He wants to be the one to kill me, because he doesn't want me to suffer. An odd way of showing love, but I don't think the three of us qualify as normal. And as for you…despite both of you having your problems, you have what would be considered romantic love…albeit after a fashion."

Eto snorted. "I'm a One-Eyed Ghoul raised in the 24th Ward and in charge of a gang of Ghouls, he's an ex-Scrapper with a split personality and magical powers, raised by you to be a Mini-Reaper. Normal doesn't come into it. And yet, in a perverse way…he helps me feel more normal, or at least more like a person. I'm glad you introduced me to him. I shouldn't be, he's a weakness that I don't need, and yet…it actually gives me something more to strive for than laying waste to the world as it is now, and letting the new one grow from its ashes. He gives me a reason to survive, no, to live beyond that day. It's a shame we can't extend your life. I don't think he truly wants you dead. He just knows you want to die before your body gives out on you."

"Hmm. I have to admit, I enjoyed being his guardian. There are few activities in my life I have. It's not without its trials and travails, but still…I suppose I have found pride in something other than myself." After a moment, Arima said, "Time is against us. My personal doctor has confirmed I have early stages of glaucoma in my right eye. Even with treatment, he doubts I will retain any real vision in that eye within the decade. Most half-humans have a form of progeria that starts to affect them from their late teens to their twenties. There's one of my bastard half-brothers, Furuta, who's just discovered the truth. He seems to have taken it well…but I think he was shaken."

"Death is inevitable for everything. It's a rather cruel quirk of evolution, isn't it? Sentience blooms, but does not survive the passing of the body that houses it. Well, unless you believe in an afterlife or reincarnation or something like that. Must've pissed off whatever passes for a deity something fierce to be born as a Ghoul if that's the case. But…what the Washuu did, what they continue to do, is cruel. They do it to swell their ranks, to give V their soldiers…and I think your father also does it because he gets off on the cruelty. Oi, Arima…you don't mind me making your daddy dearest's demise a protracted one?"

"No."

"That's what I thought…"

* * *

Eto loved many things, and one of them was dressing up in her usual disguise when she was in Aogiri Tree. The bandage-wrapping around her entire body was a relatively recent affectation, doing it under a hooded dress. Harry helped her out recently by enchanting the bandages, so she could undo them or do them up with ease. She could even uncover her head when she needed to.

She trotted into the current Aogiri Tree headquarters, before coming to the room where Tatara and Noro were waiting. She found herself with a wave of melancholy on seeing the revenant that was once her guardian again. Tatara was seated at a table, drinking tea. The tall, stoic albino Ghoul generally did not like being seen without his red, beak-like metal mask, but he'd grown comfortable around Eto. He had a rather beautiful face, his pale skin, white hair and red eyes giving him the air of a fallen angel. If she was older, and wasn't seeing Harry, she'd tap that hard.

She undid the bandages around her face. "So, nothing happening that I should be aware of?"

Tatara shook his head. "A few unruly recruits. I dealt with them. And Harry?"

"Still in Britain. Having to deal with the inbred morons in their magical community. I'll be heading back there later. I was just feeling homesick."

Noro shuffled over, and gently put a hand on her shoulder. While technically a zombie, animated by her _kakuja_, there was some small remnant of the man left, albeit barely. Or maybe it was her _kakuja_, shaped by her will and thoughts to animate Noro in the way she thought Noroi would act. Wishful thinking, in other words. She really hoped it was the former.

"Oi, Tatara, have you ever felt love for someone else?" she asked, softly.

"No lover. Only familial love for my brothers," the Chinese Ghoul said simply. "When Houji murdered them, it felt like my heart was torn from my chest. Regardless of what you do with this plan, Houji is mine."

"That's fine. Any of his protégés are on a case-by-case basis, but I'll let you kill him over a protracted period."

"No. I will make it quick. I am not like Yamori, and the longer I make his death, the more chances he has to escape."

Eto nodded. "Good thinking. But…well, I'm not gonna make it quick for Tsuneyoshi Washuu. Anyway, sorry about the question about love. It's just…"

"Harry," Tatara said. It wasn't a question. The Chinese Ghoul knew that Harry was the love of her life. While wary of such a thing, he also respected Kishou Arima enough to know that Harry was an ally.

"Yeah. He's got vultures on all sides, to say nothing of Voldemort. I'm not saying he isn't amongst friends, just that, well…I'm worried for him. Frankly, I'd love nothing more than to kill Voldemort myself, but even for us, storming his base would only give us a pyrrhic victory at best."

Tatara nodded. "…And the British are truly none of our concern. Harry should leave them to rot."

"He's not like that, Tatara, and you know it. Do you know where the word 'hero' comes from in Europe? The Ancient Greek word meaning protector or defender. Of course, the Greeks were a bunch of misogynistic arseholes. In Japanese and Chinese, the word hero is written using the characters for 'brave person'. Harry has a moral code, even if it's a bit of a loose one. He may despise Dumbledore for what he did, but it doesn't mean he will leave Britain to the Ghouls who emigrated there. Besides…I also think I know what bugs him. There's a prophecy about Voldemort and Neville Longbottom, he told me. Apparently, according to Dumbledore, a boy was to be born as 'the seventh month dies' with the power to beat Voldemort. Neville and Harry miraculously survived the Killing Curse when nobody else would, though Dumbledore and a few others believed it was a ritual based on Lily's sacrifice that saved them. Dumbledore announced Neville as the Boy Who Lived, as Voldemort's chosen nemesis."

"…But he may have been wrong," Tatara said, realising what she was getting at.

Eto nodded. "Don't get me wrong, Longbottom's not too bad. He's a scaredy cat and a wimp. But when push comes to shove, he doesn't run away, he'll stand his ground. He's uncomfortable with killing, though. But…Harry is on another level thanks to Arima. He rarely uses his magic, true, but he doesn't need to. And he's received enough training that he's practically an Auror, and a high-level one at that. Admittedly, a lot of that would be due to Arima's training. But it's also possible that Dumbledore fucked up. Now, I'm not saying that my Harry definitely has the power to beat Voldemort. But I think he is far more likely than Longbottom. And that's not just my bias towards my cuddly little Mini-Reaper talking."

Tatara nodded in his own turn, but offered no other words. The Chinese Ghoul was frequently laconic. This was a combination of his own stoic nature, as well as his relative unfamiliarity with Japanese. He was an excellent speaker of the language by now, but he was still shaky with the written word.

"Still…by all accounts, Voldemort was a monster. And the fact that he managed to come back from the dead shows that he somehow has some means of cheating death. So, even if Harry did kill him, what is to stop him from coming back again? So…what I'm going to do is find ways to research the ways Voldemort could have stayed alive after losing his body. I'll start with the DADA texts Harry has in his collection. I'll also see if the Reaper has any contacts with the local cursebreakers. I wanna do something for him than sit on my arse on the other side of the world…"

* * *

"…_Well, I could have told you one possibility straight away, actually_," Arima said, speaking to Eto the next morning, via burner phone. "_When I took Harry to Gringotts to establish his identity, as well as to finalise the adoption, they detected dark magic within his scar. They extracted it, though not without considerable difficulty: Harry's heart stopped beating twice during the ritual, necessitating resuscitation. However, the Goblins confirmed that the dark magic was a fragment of someone's soul, something that they call a Horcrux. He was lucky to survive the extraction._"

"A Horcrux?"

"_Think of it as a phylactery from fantasy fiction, usually a physical object that contains a fragment of someone's soul. This fragment acts as an anchor to this plane of existence. The local wizards, especially the_ Onmyoji, _despise them for many reasons, those who know of them. The first is that, with a fragmented soul, one cannot enter the afterlife or be reincarnated, depending on one's religion. The second is that, to fragment one's soul requires an act of coldblooded murder, combined with a rather vile preparation ritual that I am sure you'd find excessive even for your books. The third is that any such object ensorcelled in that way is resistant to destruction, save through the most extreme measures. While a ritual the Goblins developed can remove a Horcrux without destroying the object or organism, most other methods require, for example, Fiendfyre or Basilisk venom. I'd imagine dropping one into a blast furnace or a volcano would work too._"

"So…it's basically Sauron's One Ring, right?"

"_Yes. That being said, I cannot be certain as to whether the Horcrux was one of Voldemort's. Indeed, I would have thought Voldemort more likely to create a Horcrux with the death of Harry or Neville. But if it was…well, it's possible he made more. I never brought this up before as I believed Voldemort to be dead, or at least impotent. As it happens, I've sent Harry a letter to tell Dumbledore. If Voldemort has made multiple Horcruxes, then it's Dumbledore's mess to fix._" There was a sudden rustling in the background, and Eto then heard Arima say, suddenly, "_Oh. Well…this is concerning._"

"What's wrong?"

"_I have just had the magical newspaper that deals with international news delivered. The headline is a somewhat concerning one. It seems that Voldemort has broken his followers out of Azkaban sooner than we thought_…"

**CHAPTER 13 ANNOTATIONS:**

**Oh dear.**

**Review-answering time! A lot of you were commenting on Augusta's state of mind. I am basically doing what many people do (including myself) with James Potter in WBWL fics. However, while James Potter's character in those fics are an extrapolation of his bullying and self-centred nature from his Hogwarts years, Augusta's problems are a little different.**

**I view her as being one of those family matriarchs who is used to getting their way, even in canon (to list them all would take too long, but I'm sure you can name a few that I'm thinking of). The fact that she did nothing about Algie's abuse towards Neville speaks volumes about her character, and while the canon version isn't without redeeming qualities, this version is. Plus, she basically bullies Neville into being a mini-Frank. Her getting her comeuppance in Sinyk's ****_Harry Potter and the Daft Morons_**** was very satisfying.**

**For WBWL fics, we see at least one character if not more have the fame and power (mostly political through the prestige) go to their heads. They use it for political gain, which breeds envy in their opponents, but the thing about those with power (illustrated very well in canon with Fudge in particular) is that they're loath to part with any of it, and are afraid of losing it or having it taken from them.**

**Augusta's condition, then, is a form of (somewhat understandable) paranoia, senility from her advancing years, mental issues at having her beloved son taken from her (for those who get the reference, Augusta is, in some regards, a bit like Eleanor Shaw/Iselin from ****_The Manchurian Candidate_****, especially how she views her son), hatred towards Dumbledore and anyone associated with him, especially the Potters (I view Augusta as being a Blood Purist, albeit not as a violently xenophobic one), for taking her beloved son from him, and discontent with Neville being…well, Neville instead of whom she wants him to be.**

**Admittedly, making her into a villain, and a WBWL villain at that, does make her more than a little cardboard, but I have the above reasons as probably just enough reason to paper over the cracks. She's not someone revelling in evil for the sake of it: she's just a stupid old woman who's afraid of losing the power she has. She's a cornered animal who has been cornered ever since Fudge and Umbridge's campaign. Harry coming to Britain was merely the last straw that has pushed her into a downward spiral.**

**Of course, doing it this way will doubtless cause some people to be discontented. Just remember, if you don't like it, you don't have to read it. I write fics purely to entertain first, and are written by the seat of my pants.**

**DZ2****: You know, having Eto swallow Rita's beetle form might be amusing. Though what will happen if Rita, on dying, expands? While Ghouls do some impossible feats of biological manipulation, I think Eto would have a terminal case of stomach ache…Mr Creosote-style…**

**No numbered annotations this time.**


	15. Chapter 14: On Creating Monsters

**CHAPTER 14:**

**ON CREATING MONSTERS**

Augustus Rookwood chewed pensively on the chocolate bar as he peered at the shelves of jars containing various samples of Ghoul organs, blood, and so on. Azkaban had not been kind to him, and while he had never been much of a chocaholic before Azkaban, he'd been given some by the Dark Lord. It lived up to its name now, _Theobroma_, food of the gods. Manna from the heavens.

Of course, the Dark Lord wasn't supplying such a thing purely out of the kindness of his heart. Rookwood was no fool. He knew kindness was an alien emotion to the Dark Lord. Rather, he wanted Rookwood to be ready to pick up where he left off on his experiments, as soon as possible. Rookwood was perfectly fine with this. The main reason he joined Voldemort was not because he subscribed to Blood Purist ideology. Oh, he detested uppity Mudbloods, but that wasn't why.

Rather, he knew that the Dark Lord would help him venture far into research the other Unspeakables would look askance at. To delve further and deeper into forbidden knowledge that timid fools balked at discovering. The Dark Lord refused to shackle his mind and imagination. A pledge of fealty was a small price to pay for such opportunities, in Rookwood's opinion. People viewed the Dark Mark as a brand of slavery, but Rookwood viewed it as a mark of liberation.

Nodding in approval, he turned to the Dark Lord, and bowed. "You have my gratitude, my lord. These are certainly well-prepared specimens."

"Excellent, Rookwood. But tell me, how soon can you begin?"

"I can begin the preliminary processes right away. However, I do need my notes to complete them. Azkaban and its Dementors, sadly, have not been very conducive to memory retention, and I do not wish to make any mistakes due to a gap in my memory."

"We have collected many of your effects and even a couple of your safes, but we did not find any." The Dark Lord gestured at a number of crates piled nearby.

"That is hardly surprising, my lord. With all due respect, and I mean you are due considerable respect, I could hardly leave my work exposed to where lesser minds could either attempt to plagiarise my work, or destroy it. I don't suppose, amongst my effects, you managed to find a copy of a history of the Wimbourne Wasps?"

The Dark Lord nodded, flinging out an arm at a gesture. A rather garish-looking book, covered in black and yellow stripes, came into his hand from one of the crates. "I thought it odd that you had such a book, Augustus. I knew you gained information from that fool Bagman, but…"

"There is a point to this, my lord. May I?" Rookwood held out his hand for the book, and Voldemort slapped it down into it. "Thank you. There are many charms that can be used to hide writings on paper and in books. I hid my most detailed research notes, at least those that would have helped our cause and whom the Unspeakables would object to, within the books in my library, encoding them, and deliberately hiding them in the more innocuous and mundane ones. They'd expect to find annotations in dark arts texts, not hidden text in a Quidditch book. _Vi veri universum vivus vici(__1)_."

The book seemed to expand, the binding widening to accommodate the new pages, pages which he promptly opened to, showing the Dark Lord the notes triumphantly. "And in perfect condition. At the time, my progress was slow because of a lack of specimens. I had just made a breakthrough mere hours before they carted me off to Azkaban, and I believe they found a few of my abbreviated notes. With these notes, and these specimens, I daresay I can create an artificial hybrid Ghoul within a week, albeit via surgery. However, if I had Severus' help, I could devise an alchemical potion even sooner, one that can force the creation of a _kakuhou_ within the drinker. Of course, I can't guarantee that the process will be safe or successful. I presume we have some disposable guinea pigs? They need to be Squibs at the very least, as the methods do rely on the person in question having enough innate magic to catalyse the change."

"We have the coward Karkaroff," the Dark Lord said. "In addition, I have an intriguing idea. You remember what I said about the Potter boy, now Arima?"

"Yes. Quite extraordinary, being a Dove at his age," Rookwood remarked. "Do you want to turn him into a Ghoul?"

"Yes. There are a number of reasons why. The first is that he will immediately become an outcast both at Hogwarts and at the CCG. Indeed, he'll be hunted by the very organisation he is part of. And that Muggle whore of his will shun him too. The second is that, regardless whether he lives or dies, then Dumbledore has one less piece on the board, and one of his more dangerous pieces at that. The third reason…well, I find it strangely apposite that a boy who devotes his life to hunting Ghouls will become the very monster he fights. Dumbledore is a fool for saying there are fates worse than death…but for a Dove to become a Ghoul, to be rejected by all those he holds dear…it would certainly come close. Perhaps his beloved older brother will slay him!" Voldemort chuckled darkly at the thought.

Rookwood shared the hilarity, though he contented himself with a smile. "Well, my lord, I will get started right away. Thank you for this opportunity."

"Do not thank me yet, Augustus. I desire success, not gratitude…"

* * *

Harry had been sent two letters by his brother, one meant for Dumbledore's eyes only, though his brother's missive to himself had stated what it was about. The dark magic they had excised from Harry's scar. He'd given it to the old man before taking his leave, heading to Hogsmeade to take the Floo to London. Until he was needed by Baum again, he was basically on-call for the CCG, and he intended to use 12 Grimmauld Place as his base of operations until he was needed back at Hogwarts.

Thankfully, he hadn't been able to deal with any substantial BS from Umbridge. The venomous bitch was probably biding her time. Most of the grief came from the Slytherin students. However, the recent breakout from Azkaban didn't help matters.

Harry also began training Neville, in a room the House Elf Dobby had directed him to. The Room of Requirement, apparently. And from there, he realised what the main problem was. Neville had considerable ability, and while not quite at the level the Boy Who Lived should have, he had good skills all-round. His main weaknesses, as far as skills were concerned, were in Potions, while his strength was in Herbology and, due to his grandmother's tutors, Defence Against the Dark Arts. In truth, Harry couldn't truly train him in terms of skill that much.

But his biggest weakness wasn't one of skill, but of character. Harry had known this for a long time, true, but it was even more clear than before. Neville, bluntly, was a wimp. He lacked confidence, and hated himself for it. It came from being raised by his harridan of a grandmother. Clearly, Augusta Longbottom had heard of the phrase 'pressure makes diamonds', but never thought about the consequences.

In truth, Harry wasn't sure what he could do to help Neville. While he could teach in terms of pure skill, he wasn't sure how he could bolster Neville's confidence. Neville already had friends to do that for him, especially Luna. He idly thought of killing Augusta, something Edward was down for, but knew that this might cause too many problems.

However, expecting Neville to face Voldemort because of some banal prophecy was just imbecilic to an extreme. Harry wasn't stupid: he knew he would struggle against Voldemort, assuming he evened the odds. Harry's main assets were his sheer magical power, unconventional fighting style, and his ruthlessness. He didn't know whether he matched up to Voldemort, prophecy or not (assuming he was the real Boy Who Lived), and he wasn't sure he wanted to test that.

As he walked towards the Three Broomsticks pub, he could feel the eyes looking at him. Some were grateful. Others, too many, looked at him with fear and loathing. A combination of the _Prophet_'s lies and the bloody nature of his counterattack during the Ghoul invasion caused that. And of coruse, Doves were not well-liked amongst wizards, thought of as Muggle barbarians meddling in matters that didn't concern them.

Harry was well aware that he was a monster, a young boy who should be enjoying his life, his youth. Instead, he was a monster-hunter for a ruthless organisation with corruption at its core, and with a split-personality to boot. Sometimes, he wondered whether he would be like his brother, seeking death to bring an end to his twisted existence.

In truth, his brother gave him a purpose, though it was Eto who gave him hope. It was, he knew, a mirror of Eto's own feelings about him. If one of them died, the only thing they'd have left to live for was revenge, and the fulfilment of the One-Eyed King plan. Their last lingering remnants of humanity would be seared away. And that would be the time for the world to truly fear them.

With these cheerful thoughts in mind, he entered the Three Boomsticks, pausing only to swat off a beetle he had felt settle on him, and then went to the Floo, preparing to make his way first to the CCG to report, and then to 12 Grimmauld Place…

* * *

He spent an hour at the CCG, most of which was spent in the company of the Grangers. His respect for the couple grew, given their concern for Hermione. However, it seemed that the attack on Hogsmeade, as Harry had thought, had only solidified her intentions of joining the CCG. He wished her the best of luck on that endeavour.

As it happened, Hermione was going to get a Quinque based on the first Ghoul she killed. As the skull-masked Ghoul in question was yet to be formally identified (partly due to Hermione disfiguring him as she stabbed him in a panicked frenzy), the Quinque was given the tentative name of Dr Phibes, after the skull-faced villain of a horror movie series featuring the famous Vincent Price. And in case the Ghouls made another attempt on Hogwarts or Hogsmeade, Hermione was going to be given special dispensation and training by Baum in order to wield it. The British CCG had a habit of naming many of their Quinques after horror movie icons, particularly those of Hammer Horror, though many other horror movies were fair game.

In any case, Harry made his way to 12 Grimmauld Place, opening the door, and glaring at where Kreacher was, positioned a little too close to the door for his liking. "A little bit of advice, Kreacher. Whatever you're thinking, don't. I may not be as vicious as Edward…but he sets the bar pretty high. I know House Elves are more competent than most Purebloods realise. But that just means I've got my eye on you. If you try to harm me…you _will_ live to regret it, I assure you."

"…Kreacher was just cleaning," grumbled the decrepit House Elf.

"If it happened to be cleaning the house of…what did that over-painted bitch put it as? Blood Traitors, filth, Mudbloods, half-breeds, etcetera…well, I'd suggest doing some less metaphorical cleaning. It's probably less harmful to your immediate health. Just mind you don't breathe in any fumes from cleaning chemicals." _God forbid you make me happy_, Harry said in the privacy of his own skull. Something about Kreacher was just bad news.

"Harry?" The voice of Remus came from an open door. Harry saw the careworn features of the werewolf poking out. "So, you're back. Listen, Harry…could you come here a moment? I need to talk to you about something."

Harry was instantly on-guard. There was something about that tone that had him on edge. He walked gingerly through into a living room, where Remus Lupin was waiting, his expression unreadable. The moment Harry entered, Remus shut the door, and cast what had to be privacy charms. "…And what is this?" Harry asked, suspicious.

Remus indicated that Harry should sit down. Harry just remained standing. And so, eventually, that's when Remius decided to drop the bombshell.

"You do know your girlfriend's a Ghoul, don't you?"

**CHAPTER 14 ANNOTATIONS:**

**Cue the cliffhanger scream!**

**Now, I had actually debated with myself whether to have Sirius and/or Remus figure out that Eto was a Ghoul since the earlier stages of the fic. Given the senses of their Animagus and werewolf forms respectively, would they be able to smell her? Especially as she is a half-Ghoul?**

**My initial thoughts were to dismiss it, as it would needlessly complicate the story too early. However, given the clusterfuck this story needs to become, I felt a bit of conflict between Harry and his would-be guardians might help, so I came back to this notion for this chapter. I nearly had Sirius participate as well, but thought that would escalate things to a point of no return. I'll explain his absence in the next chapter.**

**Review-answering time! ****GrinDLmania****: I actually despise Kureo Mado, given what he does to Ryouko and Hinami, and he gets a fitting end in my other ****_Tokyo Ghoul_**** crossover, ****_Raptor of the 20_****_th_****_ Ward_****. Not a bad end per se, but given that he goes out fighting Eto, his Moby Dick so to speak, it's a more heroic end than trying to murder a kid who hasn't killed to eat in her life. However, after seeing some of Amon's flashbacks with how Mado liked to prank him, it added a more human air to a character who badly needed it, so that's how I decided that Mado actually was one of Harry's partners in crime, so to speak. Plus, the way the character was portrayed in the live action film was one of the best parts of the film, as his craziness wasn't as pronounced.**

**1\. Latin for '****_by the power of truth, I, while living, have conquered the universe_****'. The personal motto of Aleister Crowley, and misattributed to Faust in the graphic novel ****_V for Vendetta_**** and its film adaptation (though it did appear in a 1980 novel about Faust).**


	16. Chapter 15: Unexpected Connections and

**CHAPTER 15:**

**UNEXPECTED CONNECTIONS AND ARRIVALS**

Harry fought down an initial surge of panic at Remus' words, before he said, "You must have smelled my Quinques."

"Harry, I know the difference between a Quinque and a Ghoul. I have fought Ghouls before. I know the difference between a living Ghoul and a Quinque. Sirius may have dismissed the smell as your Quinques, but I knew. Sen may have smelled…a bit diluted compared to most Ghouls, but I know she's a Ghoul. Plus, I'm willing to bet she was responsible for the massacre at Battersea Power Station. I went there after the CCG was done with it, and smelled her there."

As if sensing the palpable menace coming from Harry's increasingly tense form, Remus held up his hands. "Look, if she's on the level, I'm fine with that, Harry. I'll even take an Unbreakable Vow not to divulge her identity if that's what it takes."

"…And what constitutes her as being _on the level?_" Harry asked, his tone dangerous, Edward growling, champing at the bit within his skull. "By what standard do you judge her?"

"I'm not a fool. I know some Ghouls feed on suicide victims or scavenge from graveyards. Some only target criminals," Remus said.

"And if she doesn't?" Harry said. "What are you going to do? You'd better choose your next words with considerable care. I would do anything to protect those I truly care about." _And I haven't known either of you long enough to truly care about you_, he added in the privacy of his head, though his cold glare made that clear. He shouldn't have let himself been seduced by the possibility of there being people in Britain who actually _cared_.

"Harry…do you know why I am telling you this alone, why I have not told Sirius, your godfather, who is currently sleeping off a major drinking session?" Remus asked.

Something in the man's voice got through to Harry, and so, he finally sat down, opposite Remus, his hands still hovering close to the cases with his Quinques. Remus eventually said, "I know what it's like to grow up isolated and alone. This happened to me after Fenrir Greyback attacked me, infected me with lycanthropy. Dumbledore allowing me into Hogwarts and making allowances for my condition helped, as did the Marauders…but I felt self-loathing due to my condition. After the death of your parents, and Dumbledore telling me you had been left with your relatives…there was a part of me that didn't want anything to do with Magical Britain anymore. I was…_tired_ of being mistrusted and mistreated because Fenrir Greyback used me to get payback against my father. I was considered the traitor, shunned and sidelined. I was in a bad way. So…I went to Japan to try and find a couple of old friends of mine, but I never did."

"…Japan?"

"I was studying for my DADA Mastery some time before Voldemort attacked Godric's Hollow," the werewolf said. "And while there are plenty of Ghouls in Britain, the British CCG at the time was seen as a joke. Baum was one of those who helped licked it into shape, and from what I spoke to them about, so were the Grangers. So I went to Japan, to Tokyo. While I was there, I made the acquaintance of a couple running a coffee shop. In truth, I learned more about Ghouls from those two than I did from the local authorities. They proved to me that Ghouls were more than monsters. One was a man called Kuzen Yoshimura, and the other was his wife, Ukina."

Harry felt a chill run down his spine at this. Remus noticed this. "You know of them?"

"…Yes," Harry admitted reluctantly.

"…I thought so. I was there, shortly after Ukina gave birth to a baby girl. Eto, they called her. Ukina wanted to make me her godfather, but Kuzen and I refused. I was about to go back to Britain, after all, and I was worried about looking after a baby while being a werewolf. However, Ukina and I had a discussion. You see, she was a journalist posing as a coffee waitress, investigating a secret Ghoul organisation, one that had links to the CCG, especially the Washuu. I know you may not believe me, but…" Remus noticed Harry's expression. "…Wait. You know about this already."

Harry nodded. "I know quite a lot about V, and the Washuu. I also know Eto personally."

"…I thought so. Eto…Sen…she has her mother's looks. I thought there was something oddly familiar about her when we first met, but didn't realise what it was until recently," Remus said. "I just chalked it up to seeing her picture on the sleeve jacket of her books. What happened to her?"

"…V happened. They ordered Kuzen to murder Ukina. Kuzen then sent Eto to an acquaintance in the 24th Ward for her safety." Harry scoffed. "She grew up in that hellhole. She and I are very alike."

"…I see. Harry…do you want to know why I haven't told Sirius or Dumbledore about this?"

"I'm sure you're about to tell me."

"It's a bit of a running joke that Gryffindors charge forward without any thought whatsoever, but not without reason. Sirius spent twelve years in Azkaban for a crime he didn't commit. He's still not recovered. On top of that…he was probably the one who pushed the envelope most amongst us. Maybe it was trying to free himself from the strictures of his family, or maybe it was the Black family madness showing itself. He nearly got Snape and I killed by directing Snape to me while I was transformed. Your father, who encouraged it, got cold feet at the last moment, as he realised I would have been executed had I savaged or killed a student. And the problem is…I think Sirius sees you as a substitute for James, but you act so differently. So cold and professional, and when you do act outside of that, you're closer to Lily."

"So you think, if Sirius knew about this, he'd do something stupid."

Remus nodded. "He'd try to confront you, and while he wouldn't go to the authorities, he'd try to badger you, not try to understand. As for Dumbledore…while I'm sure he's actually quite well-inclined towards Ghouls who don't kill, I don't think that applies to Eto. I know she's a One-Eyed Ghoul, given her mother was a human, and the only One-Eyed Ghoul infamous in recent times is the One-Eyed Owl. If he learned that…well, while Dumbledore has his thing for redemption, someone like Eto might not count."

"…But what about you?"

Remus closed his eyes. "…I'm a werewolf. I struggle against the beast within. I know monsters all too well. And when I saw you and Eto…look, while it's not the best situation, I'm hoping, beyond all hope, that you help each other, to not be monsters, or at least not towards the innocent."

"…If you know anything about V or the Washuu, then you should know, we're working to bring them down. Anyway…I know I'm a monster. But I try not to harm the innocent, and neither does Eto."

And then, suddenly, Edward was in the driver's seat, with Harry a passenger. "Just know this, boyo. You dare betray us…and I'll keep you chained up 'til the next full moon, and then skin you. I've always wanted a werewolf pelt rug for home. It'd make one helluva conversation piece. Anyone who threatens us, or Eto, we deal with, with extreme prejudice as they say in the movies."

And then, Harry was back in control. "…Sorry about that. But Edward has a point. You do _not_ want to get on my bad side."

"And now I'm even more glad that I did not tell Sirius my suspicions, as I'm sure he'd either be unconscious or worse by now," Remus said. "Harry…while I may not like what you have become, or Eto's reputation as the One-Eyed Owl…I'm on your side."

"…Right. Well, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt for now. You're very lucky, Remus. I hope you've got good Occlumency shields. As it is, I might need your help with a side-project, something Dumbledore might want. You've studied a lot of DADA, right? So…I'm wondering, do you know anything about Horcruxes?"

* * *

It was later in the day, just after noon, that he got an odd call from the London CCG, asking him to come and take someone off their hands. And judging by the description, this could either be awesome, or a headache. Then again, he hoped it was the former. Sirius had a hangover, and was nursing a headache. Remus had agreed to keep quiet about Eto, even making an magical vow to that effect.

When he got into the CCG, he was soon ambushed by an albino missile. "Sensei-Senpai!" Rei Suzuya yelped.

Watching on, amused, were the Grangers and Shinohara. Harry looked at Shinohara, who looked tired. "So, what are you two doing here?"

"Orders from above, I'm afraid. I can't stay long, no more than a couple of days. Rei here has…well, been somewhat restless since you left. Marude has decided to second Rei to you as an assistant."

Harry looked at Rei, who was grinning up at him, and then back at Shinohara. "…He's making Rei SEP, isn't he?"

Shinohara nodded. "Just for the time being, at least until we can get him into the Junior Academy. Under normal circumstances, given his age, we wouldn't have him act as your assistant. However, I agreed to this for a number of reasons. The first is that, as you know, Rei's fighting skills are without reproach. The second is you've had shared experiences, and you might be a good influence for him. While I intended to take Rei under my wing properly once he joined the CCG in earnest, I would like your assistance in helping him during this time. Besides…he constantly calls you his 'Sensei-Senpai'. You made quite the impression on him."

"Well…as long as Rei obeys orders and doesn't screw things up, I'm sure we'll have a great time. Now I can corrupt my Padawan to the Dark Side to my heart's content! Mwahahahaha!"

Shinohara's smile, along with that of the Grangers', became a touch fixed at that. Rei didn't know much English, so he just cocked his head in an endearing manner. Shinohara cleared his throat. "Harry…please teach him some better habits to balance out the bad ones at least."

"No promises," Harry said, with a broad grin, while Edward cackled in anticipation. "However, I intend to have him make a certain hungover dog's headache worse for starters."

"…Do I want to know?" Shinohara asked.

"His godfather, apparently. Framed for betraying his parents and murdering a dozen people," Emma said with a shrug. "The idiots here in Britain would never give him a retrial due to the corruption here and the lack of exonerating evidence. If anything, they'd execute him on the spot if they found him. Still, he has been a notorious prankster and lech, and he hit on me briefly when we visited, so…"

"Ah." After a moment, Shinohara said, in Japanese, "Harry, Rei…consider these your orders. You will be at the disposal of the British CCG. And you will also conduct an investigation to find as many of the Ghouls whom Voldemort recruited…and destroy them. If you encounter any Death Eaters, bring them into custody alive if you can. If you cannot…well, I understand. However, conduct yourself in a manner that will reflect well on the CCG."

"And won't embarrass Old Man Washuu," Harry snarked.

Shinohara smiled in amusement. "As long as you don't do anything egregiously foolish or messy, I don't think he'll care that much."

"Would riding a motorbike into a stronghold of Ghouls count?" Rei asked.

"…As long as it's your motorbike, I don't care."

Rei's squeal of delight promptly entered the ultrasonic.

* * *

A very hungover Sirius Black was looking at Remus when he winced in pain. "…Do you sense that, Moony?"

"…I think so."

"Someone's plotting an awesome prank…I just hope it isn't against me. And now I've got a sudden urge to find my motorbike and protect it…"

* * *

The Weasley Twins stilled while in one of their Hogwarts hideouts, concocting a scheme that involved Umbridge's robes, liquid cement, a dildo, and a toy toad. Fred and George looked at each other. "…I sense a disturbance in the Discordian Aether, Fred."

"True, George. A number of voices screaming 'Oh shit!' It feels like…a true master has accepted an apprentice."

"If we find them, we must pay homage to them, Fred."

"Of course, George. Though we need to find out where we can obtain our own motorbikes…"

**CHAPTER 15 ANNOTATIONS:**

**So, Remus has an unexpected connection to Eto, and Juuzou (aka Rei) has made an appearance.**

**Now, neither of these were planned. But Remus is always a good character to have travelled, given both his DADA expertise and his difficulty in finding work. It's not wholly implausible, even though ridiculously unlikely, that he knew Kuzen and Ukina.**

**I'll be blunt. While a lot of people won't agree with me, I actually have a lot more time for Remus than Sirius. Remus' main act that I think is worth the bashing many people put him through is leaving Tonks in Book 7. Oh, and having a relationship with a much younger woman, but frankly, that happens a lot in reality, and at least she's out of her teens by the time they start their relationship. Everything else is explicable, down to him either being a weak wimp, or else being held back by Britain's laws against werewolves.**

**Sirius, however…while he's a cool guy and got a decent enough attitude towards Harry, he's also a dick. He nearly got Snape killed, and with Snape, he could have gotten Remus killed. He views Crouch with contempt for mistreating Winky the House Elf, saying "****_You can tell the character of a man by how he treats his inferiors_****", and then treats Kreacher with contempt and cruelty (probably well-deserved, but Kreacher may not have betrayed them if Sirius was at least civil). And Molly's remarks about Sirius looking to Harry to become a replacement for James seems actually quite close to the mark. It's one of the reasons why, in my WBWL fics with an alive James and an OC sibling of Harry, Sirius is bashed, more often than not.**

**Anyway, would Sirius react well to Harry having a Ghoulfriend? I don't think so. While he'd want his godson to be happy, and he'd probably understand the world having shades of grey, he's also quixotic enough to potentially fuck it up. Remus, on the other hand, is more considered and introspective. So after trying to write the chapter with both Remus and Sirius, I thought, nope. So I contrived it to have it as Remus only.**

**Oh, and for those of you unfamiliar with ****_Tokyo Ghoul_****, and wondering what the whole thing about motorbikes is, go onto Youtube. One of the officially posted clips from the series (posted by AnimeLab) is one of Juuzou Suzuya's most hilarious and awesome moments. Look up "Tokyo Ghoul- Juzo Motorbike Scene" on Youtube. Bringing him into the main part of the story, even if only temporarily, was not my original intentions, and I stated as such to those who asked…but I changed my mind. He won't be in the fic for that long, I don't think…but we will have that motorbike scene in a variation.**

**Incidentally, this may be the last chapter for a while, and even if it isn't, the next chapter (which is mostly written), probably will be. I've burnt myself out writing this story at the pace I have…**

**Review-answering time! ****mad thought****: Sadly, Ghoul Harry has been planned since the beginning of this fic. You don't like, don't read. And I do not take requests or story ideas. Even if I did, I have not read or watched ****_Attack on Titan_****, nor do I have any plans to.**

**No numbered annotations this time.**


	17. Chapter 16: Gatecrashers

**CHAPTER 16:**

**GATECRASHERS**

Surprisingly, both Remus and Sirius took very well to Rei. Perhaps it was because Rei shared a similar background to Harry, only, he had only been rescued from his situation relatively recently. And they recognised a fellow prankster. Rei seemed to appreciate the fact that they treated him relatively normally. They were still wary of him, and understandably so, but they didn't treat him like a monster or a psycho (though Sirius had made some remark about how Rei would fit into the Black family).

Harry hadn't just brought over Murasaki and Yukimura to Britain. He'd also brought over Scorpion, though he hadn't had much of a chance to use them, preferring the other Quinques. However, Rei, having used knives quite handily as a Scrapper, took to them well.

Shinohara had made some things clear. Harry was to educate Rei as well. Rei did have a bit of an attention span problem, possibly the least of his mental issues, which did hamper things somewhat.

In the living room, Harry had set up a makeshift classroom, where he and Remus took turns to educate the albino ex-Scrapper about the different types of Ghouls. Remus' gifts as a DADA teacher helped here, and Rei actually seemed to absorb this, though he seemed impatient to try out his new Quinques. He also got a brief education on wizarding spells, especially the ones to avoid. While he could only speak Japanese, save for a few words in English, he could learn the names of the spells he should avoid. Juuzou was actually scarily intelligent, he was just ditzy, scatterbrained, and had an attention span measurable in Planck time.

Shortly after Shinohara returned to Japan, another report came to them of another nest of Ghouls. This had come via Tonks, as well as Amelia Bones. The Metamorphmagus had managed to pose successfully as a Ghoul (changing her eyes with her abilities, and used clothing from a killed Ghoul to smell like one) and heard of another meeting place, an abandoned warehouse in an industrial estate on the outskirts of London.

The pair of them got kitted out, and went to bring their latest purchase along. A secondhand motorbike from a scrapyard that, thanks to tuition from Sirius and some repair charms, they got into working order. It cost a bit of money, even if it was a junker, but given the idea he and Rei had, well, it was too good to let lie fallow.

When they arrived, Dan Granger was there, kitted out in tactical gear, with the CCG vehicles forming the usual tactical barricade. "What's the situation?" Harry asked.

"Crap. After the initial lot of spellfire, we've only had either gunfire or shards from _ukaku kagunes_," Dan said. "I think the Death Eaters who have arrived have already pissed off. But they have us pinned down, and with this warehouse being practically on the Thames…I think some of the smarter Ghouls brought along military equipment, and they're sniping at us from the roof. Not much, but we can't advance, not yet."

Rei, after hearing the translation, got a big grin on his face, and hurried over to the motorbike. Harry, meanwhile, transfigured part of the ground into a ramp. "…Please don't tell me you want to make like Evel Knievel," Dan said flatly.

"Better." Harry rushed over to the motorbike, casting a charm on it, making calculations. He'd never really ridden a motorbike before, well, unless arcade games counted.

Having Rei don a tactical helmet, and doing the same, he started up the bike, his eyes showing the darkness associated with Edward. Edward's instincts would be needed for this next bit. Still, even being a passenger in his own mind, he had to admit to enjoying this.

Edward revved up the engine, and then put the pedal to the metal…metaphorically. Going at high speeds, they hit the ramp, Rei whooping and hollering as they flew up to the roof, the Ghouls staring at them in astonishment, before Edward and Rei kicked off the motorbike, sending it sliding along the rooftop and colliding with the gathered Ghouls. Edward grinned as he fired off a Blasting Hex at the bike once it was just far enough way to be safe. They landed just as the bike exploded, taking most of the Ghouls and a good chunk of the warehouse roof with it.

As the surviving Ghouls on the roof picked themselves up from where they'd either dived to the side, or else been knocked down by the blast, Edward grinned. "Evenin', gents. EXPELLIARMUS!"

The Ghouls were blasted off their feet again, with their weapons falling to his feet. "Aw, shucks, you shouldn't have. Now I feel like Julius Caesar after Vercingetorix chucked his weapons onto his feet, only with less foot injuries. Or was that just in the _Asterix_ comics? Anyway, what do the kids say on the internet these days? Oh, yes." Edward grinned as he readied Murasaki and a Yukimura. "_All your base are belong to us, __**bitches**__._"

Surprisingly, Rei worked very well as a pair with Edward. It was some sort of instinct that allowed them to work together, with Edward occasionally summoning the Scorpion Quinques Rei had already thrown at the Ghouls and tossing them back to the effeminate albino, or else just throwing them himself with Murasaki. Rei and Edward cackled and cheered as they went on the rampage, before they got to the rooftop access stairwell. Harry got back in control once more, and activated the radio. "…Arima to Granger. Roof is clear, for now."

"_I'm hardly surprised. You two are insane. Don't get me wrong, that was awesome, just bloody insane. Anyway, we're beginning our ingress into the warehouse now. Enter the warehouse as well. Any Ghoul that seems like a commander, we need to capture alive if possible for interrogation. Make sure Suzuya knows that as well_…"

* * *

It was difficult getting the hyperactive Rei to allow Harry to take point, much to his annoyance. He got rather sulky. Rei was very much a free spirit, acting independently. And while he could work with an ally, it was generally in name only, for the most part. He just didn't attack allies if he could help it, but neither did he like to follow orders. But thankfully, he listened.

They managed to find their way to an office rather quickly, given their roof access, to find a female Ghoul in a hooded jacket and wearing a Margaret Thatcher mask waiting for them. "…Damn wizards," she snarled. "Damn Doves. DAMN YOU ALL!" An _ukaku kagune_ sprouted from her back, and shards of crystalline matter spat out at Harry and Rei.

A Shield Charm protected them both. And then, as the woman stopped temporarily, Harry sent her flying with a Stunner. But as Rei meant to finish her off, Harry stopped him. In Japanese, he said, "Remember, orders are to capture any Ghouls in charge alive if possible."

Rei pouted. But as the Ghoul got to her feet again, Harry blasted her with another Stunner. As she sprawled, he dashed forward, fishing around in the pouch of his vest, before getting out a syringe and a vial. Uncapping it and filling it with speed, he tore off the Ghoul's mask (wow, she was actually rather a looker), opened the Ghoul's mouth, and jabbed the syringe in below her tongue, pushing down the plunger. Almost instantly, the woman's _kakugan_ faded, and so too did her _kagune_. "I'd apologise for that, but you're one of Voldemort's helpers," Harry said.

"What…what the hell did you just inject me with?!" the Ghoul snapped.

"RC Cell suppressant. Ghouls normally can't be injected by any syringe unless the needle is made from Quinque Steel, or else is injected into a mucous membrane like the inside of the eyelid, or the mouth. I thought going for your mouth would be less traumatic…well, associated trauma with dentists aside," he added with a shrug. "I'm not a doctor, so…as I said, I'd apologise, but you've probably done little to deserve an apology."

"Fuck you," she said, before spitting bloody spittle at him.

"No thanks, I already have a girlfriend," Harry said flatly. "Now, go to sleep." Another Stunner finally knocked the Ghoul unconscious, and another spell had her wrapped in chains.

* * *

As it happened, the Death Eaters had flown the coop. Harry reckoned it wasn't out of fear of the CCG's abilities, but rather, because they wanted to avoid being linked to the Ghoul gatherings, at least just yet. Then again, considering how deeply Fudge was drowning in denial, as well as how deep he was in Malfoy's pockets, they could have gotten away with that anyway. Or maybe they were worried about Eto striking again, though they didn't know who she was. Thankfully.

After the debriefing, Rei turned to Harry and pouted as they made to head back to 12 Grimmauld Place. "Why didn't you let me have any fun with her, Sensei-Senpai?"

"A few reasons. The first is our orders were to capture any Ghoul in command alive. The second is that being an Investigator is not all fun and games. I know you like cutting them up, but try to be clean and efficient. The third is that you'd probably end up slicing up her _kakuhou_, and without that, you get no _kagune_ for a Quinque. You need it extruded when they're dead to be able to make one. Rei, you do well in combat, but you need to learn how to obey orders. Leaving aside other matters like the chain of command, they may just save your life. Believe me, I know, being a former Scrapper myself, how little that might mean to you…but you've already got people like Shinohara or Mado who seem to care about you. Plus…I guess in a way you're like my adorably homicidal little brother."

Rei shot him an odd look, a strangely contemplative one. "…Little brother," he murmured thoughtfully.

"Yeah. Rei…I know a lot of people are going to look askance at you for being an ex-Scrapper. Been there, done that, bought the bloodstained T-shirt. Most people at least held their tongues because my big brother trained me, but while Shinohara has quite a bit of pull in the CCG, he doesn't have the sheer respect my big brother has. And it'll be a while before you can officially become an Investigator anyway. You'd probably have to go through the Junior Academy first. There's a few people there you could be friends with." He thought back to the Mutsuki girl, the one who claimed her family had been murdered by a Ghoul, shortly before this whole mess brewed up. Harry had found out the truth, and had confronted her about it.

He sighed. The poor girl had been badly abused by her father, while her mother did fuck all. No wonder the girl snapped. No wonder she was in denial. She was being counselled about what she did. Hopefully, they managed to catch any major psychological problems and nipped them in the bud. And the poor girl had apparently asked to live as a boy from now on. In a perverse way, he reckoned Rei and Mutsuki would get along. Mutsuki might be able to draw on Rei's confidence, while Rei could become more human by Mutsuki's example.

His thoughts were interrupted when Rei suddenly hugged him. "Uhh, what are you doing?"

"You said I'm like your little brother, right? I've never actually had a brother before. Yeah, Big Brother sounds better than Sensei-Senpai. And I get two Big Brothers for the price of one, 'cause Edward is awesooooome!"

"…Oh." Harry could hear Edward cackling away in his skull. He just got glomped by a psychopathic albino ex-Scrapper. And the sad thing was, he'd been involved in weirder situations, and would doubtless be involved in even weirder ones.

It wasn't like this was a bad thing. Shinohara had brought Rei here to have Harry temper the ex-Scrapper somewhat. Just as Arima had saved Harry's humanity, and (unbeknownst to Shinohara) Harry had saved Eto's, Shinohara hoped that Harry would be able to do so for Rei. He'd only been rescued from Big Madam some months previously.

"…Just remember, we're not going to be able to make awesome entrances like that all the time. Or at least not with motorbikes. Even from a scrapyard, that thing was expensive," Harry said. "That being said…I'm sure we can think of something. Besides, there's always something to be said about stealth when the situation calls for it."

"Why?"

"Ah, my dear Rei…you've never played a _Metal Gear Solid_ game, have you? You'd love the things you can do to enemies if you have the patience to sneak up on them. Or what about a Batman film? You can play Dope on a Rope, make your enemies shit themselves in fear before you kill them. All you need is your imagination, a bit of forethought, and creativity. Plus the right materials, but we'll get to that later. Actually, I should show you a Pensieve memory of what I did with some wasabi paste to some blonde ponce who's never had any. Plus, if a certain pink toad gives me any more grief, you could help me dole out some suitable retribution…"

* * *

Back in Hogwarts, as she watched some little Mudblood shit called Creevey using her Blood Quill in a detention, Umbridge suddenly felt a shiver run down her spine. She dismissed the feeling as soon as it was gone. Nobody would truly dare trying to harm the Senior Undersecretary, would they?

**CHAPTER 16 ANNOTATIONS:**

**Yes. Yes they would, Dolores.**

**And yes, we did have a variation on the motorbike entrance Juuzou used in canon.**

**Also, an allusion to Mutsuki. Hopefully, she (or he: I'm never quite sure what terms to use for someone in her situation, biologically female but living as a man. **My apologies to any people more familiar with LGBT culture and nomenclature**) will have a better life.**

**Okay, so this will definitely be the last chapter for a while. But you've gotten 16 chapters out of the deal. Hope you enjoyed them. If you want more Potterverse/****_Tokyo Ghoul_**** story, then why not try my ****_Raptor of the 20_****_th_****_ Ward_****? Assuming you haven't already.**

**No numbered annotations this time.**


	18. Chapter 17: Metamorphosis

**CHAPTER 17:**

**METAMORPHOSIS**

In his bindings, the Ghoul formerly known as Igor Karkaroff screamed hoarsely as Jason went to work on him. Nearby, Bellatrix Lestrange was watching on in a mixture of disgust and interest. Her disgust was mostly because she was in close proximity to a pair of Ghouls rather than Jason's torture methods, which she was interested in, despite herself.

"Now, the thing is about wizards, you've got a ready-made torture curse, so you get lazy. Complacent. The thing is about pain…" Jason snipped off Karkaroff's ear, provoking another croaking howl. Karkaroff's eyes were wide in agony, one with white sclera, the other with a black sclera, and a red iris. "…Is that it comes in many flavours, so to speak. It comes in as many varieties as there are ways to injure the body. There's some European woodcutting my torturer in Cochlea showed me once. He called it _Wound Man_, and it was basically a guide to medieval doctors about all the injuries a guy could sustain(1). And, of course, in China, Korea, and Vietnam, you have the so-called _Lingchi_, what you guys call the Death of a Thousand Cuts. My point is…why settle for one way of causing someone pain, when there are so many to choose from? Sure, you can have favourites…" He then cut off Karkaroff's genitals, provoking one of the more louder and shriller screams, though Bellatrix had to admit, it was music to her ears. "…But mix it up. That way, you get more satisfaction."

In a more distant corner of the room, Voldemort and Rookwood were conferring. "It seems that the potion was a paramount success," Voldemort observed. "You have done well, Augustus."

"Indeed. I knew that Igor would be given to this rather unpleasant man as a plaything, so I decided to choose a _kouhaku_ belonging to a Ghoul with a _rinkaku kagune_. I'm so grateful that you had the foresight to have the specimen jars labelled with the type of _kagune_ the Ghoul used. _Rinkaku_-using Ghouls tend to have the best regenerative abilities of any Ghoul. Of course, there is a limit to their regenerative abilities. That may have also contributed to the success of the metamorphosis into an artificial One-Eyed Ghoul. Hmm…so, let us review what we have learned so far. Igor is capable of eating normal food, but still has the hunger for human flesh. Only one of his eyes shows a _kakugan_. Powerful regenerative capabilities, possibly due to the _rinkaku kagune_."

"Hmm. It is good that you managed to create this potion without Severus' input. He may have passed this information to Dumbledore. We don't want him to see what is coming, after all. Incidentally, we will have to tighten up security. The CCG are proving to be an irritation. A _competent_ irritation, no less. They are finding us and whittling down our Ghoul forces. I think it may be time, before long, to put paid to them. We need to escalate to a point where the CCG would be too afraid to fight back. But that can wait for now. I have been looking for the opportunity we discussed to fatally hobble Harry Arima, and I believe we have found it. The Black household has a House Elf by the name of Kreacher. After a particularly ill-advised admonition from Sirius Black to leave the house…well, while Kreacher is bound by orders not to divulge any secrets of the Order of the Phoenix, and cannot even tell us the address or do anything to give us the same…well, he has offered our services to avenge himself on his supposed master and on Harry Arima, who apparently has an alternate personality, and a violent one at that."

"Ah. So, I presume that Kreacher is to be the means of dosing Harry Arima?"

"Exactly."

"Hmm. I think for him, we will use the _kakuhou_ from an _ukaku kagune_ as the basis of his potion."

Voldemort considered what he knew of Ghoul 'types'. "They have speed on their side, but not stamina."

"Precisely. He will tire himself trying to attack us with attacks we can easily shield against. Assuming we have to face him. Do I have your approval?"

"Make it so, Augustus…"

* * *

A few days later, Harry wasn't expecting to be called back to Hogwarts so quickly. He debated with himself whether to bring Rei along, but decided against it. Rei's lack of social skills and professionalism may cause trouble, and while he was sure Rei could handle any wizard who objected to him, he wasn't sure Rei could handle them all, especially given how vicious Umbridge was. So he left Rei with Sirius and Remus for now, though not before reminding the effeminate albino not to touch anything he wasn't supposed to. After all, cursed artifacts could cause trouble.

They were going back to anti-Ghoul lessons, and Harry was taking point. Umbridge was sitting in on this lesson. Apparently she had been bringing in certain students into detentions, having apparently conned Fudge into passing some legislative amendment that allowed her, despite not being a teacher, to hand out detentions. One student claimed the bitch used a Blood Quill, normally used at Gringotts, but Umbridge claimed that the student in question inflicted it on themselves to frame her, and as a Ministry official, it was ridiculously hard to gainsay her.

Baum was letting him have the con for this lesson, merely watching over as he looked at the OWLs students. "As today, we are going back to Ghoul studies, I thought we might try something different. Namely, case studies of various Ghouls. Now, keep in mind, many of the details of these stories may prove distressing. However, when dealing with Ghouls, as with any dark creature or indeed dark wizard, one should not turn away from the horror, if only because you need to know what the stakes are. With the permission of the CCG, I have compiled some files on some Ghouls, a couple detailed, others not. For starters, we will look at Lantern, the codename assigned to Uruka Minami…"

* * *

He went into some of the details of a couple of cases, before he began talking about…well, his girlfriend, even at one remove. The One-Eyed Owl. And then, Draco put up his hand. "Arima, why is there only one major One-Eyed Ghoul known? And in Japan, of all places?"

"That's actually a good question, Draco Malfoy. Humans and Ghouls are technically the same species. However, hybrids usually fail to form for a couple of reasons. In a human mother, the Ghoul foetus often starves from a lack of nutrients. In a Ghoul mother, frequently, the mother's body mistakes the foetus as nutrients, and absorbs them into the body. Of course, it's rare that a Ghoul and a human would willingly couple in the first place, for obvious reasons." Harry conjured up a donut, not an actual one, but he was using one of Mado's examples. "I mean, would you fall in love with this(2)?"

Nervous waves of laughter filled the room, and Umbridge nodded approvingly, oddly enough. Then again, given her anti-creature stance, it was hardly surprising. Harry remembered what Remus said about her, the hag. He'd love nothing more than to let Edward loose on her sorry arse, but unfortunately, there were consequences. But he was going to make sure there was a reckoning.

"Still, the One-Eyed Owl shows that, not only is it possible, but there's some scary implications. The One-Eyed Owl has shown power above and beyond most other Ghouls, suggesting heterosis is at work. In other words, their hybrid biology gives them more power than the average Ghoul, as with many other species." It was a subtle shot against Blood Purist ideology, though he was sure that the shot would go over the heads of most present.

Eventually, he added, "As Hogsmeade demonstrated, Ghouls are a clear and present danger, even to wizards. While normally I would not advocate Slinkhard's advice, the truth is, Investigators for the CCG are trained to deal with them, as are Aurors and Hit-Wizards. But if you cannot run, using spells like Banishing Charms and the like could save you. Even a simple Wingardium Leviosa can potentially levitate a Ghoul out of range unless they're an _ukaku kagune_ type. Ghouls are every bit as vulnerable to magic as a Muggle. But never mistake them for being as weak as a Muggle. They are strong, and they are fast, as some of you saw at Hogsmeade. To fight them, Investigators have to be good, even if they are Muggles. If you decide to become Aurors, then you have to ensure that you do not end up as a Ghoul's next meal..."

* * *

What Harry didn't know was that he was being very closely watched. Kreacher was glaring at the one who had the gall, the audacity to threaten him. And Kreacher was someone who held grudges something fierce. It was bad enough that the Blood Traitor to the family did what he liked in the House of Black with impunity, but this interloper, the one whose briefcase and girlfriend stank of Ghoul?

So, when Sirius unwisely ordered him in such a way to leave the house, Kreacher took the opportunity to do so, approaching Mistress Bellatrix. And she understood. She told him what they were going to do. They were going to trash the interloper Arima's reputation, life, nay, his very soul. Given what Arima threatened to do to Mistress Walburga's portrait, well, it was just desserts. In fact, dessert was exactly what Kreacher had in mind for what he was about to do. Yes, he would slip the potion in with some food, using House Elf magic to shield it from detection. He would be able to pose as a Hogwarts House Elf long enough to do so.

Kreacher was doing this for a few reasons. The threat to his mistress' existence was a big part of it. But, truth be told, he wanted to see the Blood Traitor wallow in agony. Kreacher wanted to feed off the pain of Sirius, the pain the traitor to the good name of Black would feel when his godson became a Ghoul. And Kreacher was vindictive. The only true masters he had were dead. Regulus had drowned, pulled underneath the surface of the underground lake by the undead, and his mistress was dead, reduced to a portrait. These upstarts think they could tell him what to do? They would rue the day they thought he was theirs to command, even if this meant his end. Spite was a powerful motivator, after all…

* * *

Harry sighed as he took the meal in his rooms. He liked eating privately. Then again, given the meals in the Great Hall were noisy affairs, well, he preferred quiet. Even the canteen at the CCG buildings were quieter, and he preferred to eat at the Chateau. Even while with Eto, he preferred treating her to a meal he cooked her himself. He was grateful that the One-Eyed Ghoul could still eat human food.

The problem was, things were getting too quiet. After a number of raids, the Ghouls had withdrawn into their boltholes, as had the Death Eaters. That didn't bode well. It meant that they were up to something, something big. But what? Harry pondered this as he capped off his meal with a bit of treacle tart and ice cream, having grown fond of the dessert when he tried it when he first came to Hogwarts.

The problem was with Ghouls was that many people mistook them to be vicious animals in human form, creatures of instinct and not intellect. But they weren't. Harry had been secretly hoping that Voldemort would fuck up and cause a revolt sooner rather than later, given the Blood Purists' attitude to 'creatures', which included Ghouls. Unfortunately, reality wasn't being cooperative, and Voldemort, for being a megalomaniacal wizard with a Nazi-like attitude, was proving to be canny enough to avoid some pitfalls. They were chasing shadows here. And…

Why was he feeling feverish? Why was he feeling a dull ache at his shoulders? And why was he feeling a sharper pain in his eye?

Suddenly, his whole body seemed to be clenched in a massive fist. He convulsed, falling to the floor from his chair with a strangled cry of agony. For a time, he was left writhing on the floor in pain, feeling like he was burning up with heat and pain, like he was going through an extremely quick flu. It felt like hours, but in truth, it was mere minutes.

He got to his feet unsteadily, a hand over his eye, as he staggered through into the bathroom of his quarters. He began splashing water into his face to try and cool it down, only to stop with a start of horror, before peering back at the mirror above the sink. Mismatched eyes, negative images of each other, stared back at him. One green iris on white sclera, the other red iris with black sclera.

He felt something drop out from underneath, as if it were the trapdoor on a gallows, sending him on a terminal gravity-assisted date with fate. He felt horror and despair and an overwhelming anger at what had been done to him. He felt Edward stir within, roused by the negative emotions.

The face he was staring at was his own. But it had changed. He had changed. Changed not for the better, either.

For now he was a One-Eyed Ghoul.

**CHAPTER 17 ANNOTATIONS:**

**Well, it's been a little while, hasn't it? But here it is, the chapter I've been building up to for some time. I'd pretty much intended this from the beginning. Now, the question is, can Harry keep this secret?**

**Review-answering time! I got a couple of reviews about my previous handling of Mutsuki's situation. Thank you, lrdchief and Saphira455 for clarifying the issue. I willingly admit my ignorance in how to assign the correct pronouns to transgender people, especially when they haven't actually had their gender physically changed.**

**Jostanos****: Just the ones she can get away with. The ones she can easily gainsay.**

**DZ2****: I was still hearing James Nesbitt in my head.**

**1\. This is a real woodcut, used by medieval doctors. I first learned about it from the Hannibal Lecter books…**

**2\. For all its faults, the ****_Tokyo Ghoul_**** live action film did well in its characterisation of Mado, making him more sympathetic or at least relatable from the outset, with the donut and that line being used as his rebuttal to a subordinate who thought that Dr Fueguchi had a human lover.**


	19. Chapter 18: Aftermath

**CHAPTER 18:**

**AFTERMATH**

After the initial horror and panic died down, stifled with an effort using the discipline his big brother instilled in him, Harry knew he needed to act fast. It was maybe about 2:20 in the morning in Tokyo, but he needed to contact his big brother. He trusted nobody else, save for Eto, with the knowledge that he was a One-Eyed Ghoul now.

Thankfully, he had a mobile phone with him, one specifically shielded from the EM-like effects of magic. It also had a scrambler in it. It was meant for him to receive any orders from CCG's headquarters either in London or in Tokyo, and he also used it to call Eto if need be. Closing the door to the bathroom, he turned on the shower, just in case. There were no portraits here, true, but he didn't want anyone to overhear what he was saying.

The phone was picked up swiftly. "_Moshi moshi_," came his big brother's voice, a little tiredly.

"Big brother…it's Harry. We have a problem. Class One CF."

That was semi-facetious code meaning a Class One Clusterfuck. So Arima's voice spoke, more alertly, "_What happened?_"

"Is this line absolutely secure?"

"_Yes, of course._"

"…I think someone somehow slipped me something to turn me into a Ghoul. I am not joking. I have a single _kakugan_."

"_I see._" Complete and utter belief. His big brother knew that Harry would not call him up in the middle of the night to prank him on something so trivial, especially with the code Harry gave. "_Are you…hungry?_"

"For human flesh? Thankfully not."

"…_Good. Do you know how it could have been administered?_"

Harry frowned. "Personal hypothesis is my food was somehow doctored. Remember, Voldemort was looking for Rookwood's notes on creating Ghouls artificially, and Rookwood was busted out of Azkaban not so long ago. I fell ill soon after eating my dinner. How it was tampered with, I don't know, as Hogwarts meals are provided by House Elves. Maybe one of them was suborned, or else the Death Eaters have one who infiltrated. But again, only hypotheses."

"_I see. While it would not do to hypothesise ahead of facts, it's not a bad hypothesis, one that could only have been foreseen with rather more paranoia than we first thought. Harry…this may not be as big a disaster as you may think._"

Harry rolled his eyes, trying not to lash out angrily. Instead, he asked, "How so?"

"_For some time now, the Chairman and many within the CCG have been giving thought to artificially hybridise humans to create Investigators capable of fighting with their own_ kagunes. _The problem is, of course, suppressing the Ghoul appetite and preventing any such agents from going rogue due to a Ghoul's mindset. However, we have already have protocols and contingencies in place for such a thing. Therefore, given your value as an Investigator for the CCG, I intend to use my authority to invoke what is called the Quinx Protocol._"

"The Quinx Protocol?" This was the first Harry had heard about it, but then again, this was the first time he'd heard of any serious plans to hybridise Investigators.

"_Yes. Should any Investigators be willingly or not hybridised, they will be given the codenames of 'Quinxes' and placed under the authority of a relevant officer. I will try to ensure, albeit with no promises, that you are kept under my aegis. As long as you commit no actions that would contravene our rules and regulations, you will not be targeted as a Ghoul, and your status will be advertised to the relevant authorities. Officially, you will be fed as with any Ghouls we have in Cochlea. Unofficially…well, I am sure Eto has well-stocked larders._"

Harry sighed. As much as he didn't want to reveal his status to the higher-ups, he was grateful to his big brother for doing this. He trusted him. "How do you think some of the others will take it?"

"_Mado will have things explained. As for Shinohara, he will accept it. Baum is one of those who is authorised to read up on the Quinx Protocol. However, for now, you are to return to Tokyo and rendezvous with me here. If Baum objects, cite Emergency Protocol 5. I will send her an Eyes Only briefing on the matter later. When you contact Suzuya, do the same, and ensure he is brought back here as well. Can you deactivate your_ kakugan?"

Harry tried, but nothing seemed to work. "No."

"_Then you'll need to improvise either an eyepatch or some sort of covering bandage. Don't come to the London CCG, just in case you set off the RC Cell detection gates. Instead, take a Portkey straight to the Chateau with Suzuya. We will work out what to do then_…"

* * *

Emergency Protocol 5 was basically CCG shorthand for a personal emergency, but one that had potential to impact the CCG as a whole. It was not to be used lightly, as severe consequences were in place for misusing these protocols. So when he told Baum about this, having managed to improvised a set of bandages covering his eye, she accepted them rather grimly. However, it meant that his departure hadn't gone unnoticed.

He stopped by 12 Grimmauld Place and picked up Rei, promising to explain later to Remus and Sirius, before creating a Portkey for Tokyo. They ended up outside the Chateau. Despite the early hour, his big brother was there. It had been a couple of hours since his phone call, but to his surprise, Shinohara was present.

Shinohara led Rei away into another room to talk to him, handing the albino ex-Scrapper a file as he did so, while Arima, nursing a mug of tea, sighed quietly. "This…is a mess. True, it's also an opportunity, and not as disastrous as it could have been, but we still have little idea as to the how. We only suspect the who, in that it was most likely Voldemort or one of his minions who did this, somehow."

"You told Shinohara?"

"Out of the Investigators who have regular contact with you, I trust him most. I have already notified the Chairman and the Bureau Director. They want you to undergo medical tests as soon as possible, to find out how."

"And what, replicate it?"

"Potentially. I know how you feel about it. You appear rather calm about this."

"…You know how I feel about Ghouls," Harry said. "I know it's not just us versus them. And about the Washuu as well. I'm more angry at who did this to me. They were deliberately trying to disrupt the activities of the CCG. They targeted me deliberately. Though to be frank, it took every bit of training and discipline you put me through not to panic."

Kishou Arima nodded, smiling softly at his adopted brother. "You will need some time off to come to terms with it. I will negotiate for leave on your behalf, Harry. I'm sorry this happened."

"…I'm ambivalent about this. You know why."

Arima nodded again. "I will do everything I can protect you, to train you to use your kagune. Any idea on what it is?"

"Not really. I felt some pain around my shoulders when it happened, though. An _ukaku kagune?_"

"Perhaps. We will have to train you to enhance the strengths and overcome the shortcomings of whatever _kagune_ you have. Keep in mind, you will be scrutinised more than any other Investigator, due to your circumstances," Arima said.

"Ugh, don't remind me. I'm sure I'm going to need every day of that leave just to get used to this, as well as figure out all the ins and outs…"

* * *

Some minutes later, Shinohara and Rei walked in. After a moment, Rei walked over to Harry, and then glomped him. "Shinohara just told me, about what happened to you, and about the Quinx Protocol. It's so cool, and yet…it's sad. I…I dunno why I'm sad. Is it because I don't want to have to hunt you, Senior-Senpai?"

"Maybe, Rei. I'm…not happy about this. But…"

"You're coping very well," Shinohara observed, and rather kindly.

"That is due to my training him," Arima said. "When he first learned about his state, he contacted me as soon as he was able to. Shinohara, I will leave it up to you how to broach the matter to Kureo Mado. Emphasize the Quinx Protocol, as well as the investment of time and effort I have made in training Harry, and that if he feels the need to object, he can do so to the Chairman personally. I will ensure the same is made clear to every other senior member of the CCG who needs to know about this."

Shinohara nodded, before walking over and placing a hand on Harry's shoulder. "I'm really sorry about this. You of all people don't deserve this shit. It's a good thing the Quinx Protocol were in place for this contingency. Still…you do know that this is going to change a lot of things. Many will fear, even hate you, for this. Even if it's not your fault that this happened, many of us may not realise this."

"That's fine, I'll just do what I always do. Prank them to within an inch of their miserable lives. Only, I'll escalate," Harry said.

"Hopefully, it won't come to that," Arima said. "The Chairman will make sure that they are made aware of your condition, and how you are to be treated."

"Of course, this could be a boon in other ways," Shinohara remarked. "Few of us have actual combat experience against Ghouls prior to doing fieldwork. Even if you are taken off active duty, you could help train recruits on realistic Ghoul combat simulations. It could potentially reduce casualties in the field. You can still help us, Harry. So never believe that you don't have a place in the CCG. I for one believe in you."

That meant a lot to Harry. While his big brother's reassurances were good, Shinohara's honest and frank assurances also meant quite a bit, as had Rei's comforting hug. Then again, he was on good terms with them, and Shinohara's easy-going and empathic nature, as well as Rei's shared experiences as an ex-Scrapper, helped matters. He was not looking forward to Mado or Marude's reactions to this. Or anyone else's…

* * *

He had been brought into the CCG HQ the next morning (his bandages over his eye exchanged for an eyepatch), waved past the RC Cell gates thanks to his big brother, and left to be examined by a kindly-looking but vaguely creepy doctor called Kanou, his big brother watching on. Kanou seemed overly fascinated with the results.

"Well, it seems that you are, indeed, a Ghoul now, Provisional Investigator Arima," the older man said, storing away vials of blood he had extracted after handing Harry some RC suppressant to take so he could get the samples. "True, your RC Cell levels are quite low, presumably due to your hybridisation. Why, I daresay you wouldn't trip the gates the way you are now. However, you do have a _kakuhou_, around the shoulders. That means you have an _ukaku kagune_. That means you have high speed in exchange for a lack of stamina."

"We suspected as such," Arima said. "He seemed able to eat normal food without any difficulty."

"Ah, that's good," Kanou said. "A shame I cannot truly analyse what happened to you. I am no expert in wizards and their rather unscientific ways of doing things. It's as frustrating as it is fascinating. No hunger for flesh, yet. I presume arrangements have been made for human flesh when the time comes?"

"Of course," Arima said. "And Dr Kanou, my brother is not a lab rat. If we cannot reverse his transformation, then we need to learn as much about it as possible, so that he can continue working for the CCG."

"If you recall, it was my proposals that led to the establishment of the Quinx Protocols," Kanou said, in mild reproof. "In lieu of being given any leave to perform experiments, I should at least make a case study of your brother. I believe he would be most fascinating."

Edward suddenly came to the fore, and glared at Kanou, his hand lashing out and gripping the man's throat. "I think you're a wee bit hard o' hearing, boyo. Or maybe you're hard o' thinking. I'm nobody's guinea pig, Sawbones, and if you think otherwise…well, I'm gonna make my first meal you."

"Edward, please cease and desist," Arima said.

"Oh? And why should I do that?" Edward looked into Kanou's eyes. "Monsters can recognise their own, and he's got a vivisection boner the size of Tokyo Tower. He would like nothin' more than to cut me up alive to find out what makes me tick. So, Dr Frankenstein, if you do or try anything I object to, I will turn you into mince, which I will cook into Hamburg Steak. Do we have a sound basis for communication?"

Kanou had surprisingly little fear on his face, though he nodded all the same, and Edward let go. "Just remember, Dr Frank N Furter, I've got my eyes on you," Edward growled.

"I'm not a crossdresser, and sadly, I am not Tim Curry," Kanou remarked mildly, rubbing his neck.

Edward let go of control, and Harry was left in his place. "Are we done here?" he asked.

"Certainly," Kanou said, almost completely unruffled by the experience.

* * *

"Edward's right," Harry muttered as they came back to the Chateau. His big brother had decided to get him out of the CCG HQ, due to Kanou's provocation, mild and small though it was, and he had no desire to deal with the politics of the CCG for the moment. "Something about that guy stinks."

"He was, if you remember what he said, one of those responsible for the Quinx Protocol in the first place. He had submitted a series of proposals some months ago to hybridise humans and Ghouls artificially, through transplantation surgery, specifically of the _kakuhou_. Naturally, the proposal was refused on ethical grounds."

"…The Washuu dismissed something based on ethics?" Harry asked flatly.

"At least publicly. But because there was a possibility that either a natural One-Eyed Ghoul would be made part of the CCG, or else some other person would follow in Kanou's footsteps, the Chairman instituted the Quinx Protocol. The initial draft was put into place shortly before Voldemort's revival." After a pause, Arima said, quietly, "In any case, I will ensure you have a week's leave. Make the most of it. Contact Eto. She can comfort you, and guide you."

Harry nodded, and already began reaching for his phone. He needed his girlfriend now, more than ever…

* * *

When he arrived at the apartment later, Eto looked worried when she answered it. "…Harry? You didn't tell me what was wrong. Why do you have an eyepatch?"

He gently removed it, and his _kakugan_ was now revealed for her to see. After a moment's shock, she hurried him in. "I haven't got anything on today," she said. "Tatara's keeping things under control. What do you want to do?"

And that's when it happened. All the pent-up emotion broke through the dam he'd kept it behind for the past day. Fear, anger…but also a kind of twisted happiness and joy. He was now truly like her. "…Just…can I stay with you for the day?"

A sad but warm smile lit up her features. Not her usual lazy smirk or sadistic rictus, but a gentle, sympathetic one. "Sure. And you can tell me all about it. Oh, Harry…" And with that, she embraced him. "…You didn't deserve to be cursed like this. Not one bit."

"…It's not a curse, Eto," he said, even as tears began trickling from his eyes. "A curse doesn't bring me closer to someone I love…"

**CHAPTER 18 ANNOTATIONS:**

**So, Harry has managed to get things dealt with. Soon, there will be a period of rest and recovery…before Harry returns to Britain, ready to bring the pain to the Death Eaters. The next chapter (when it comes out) will be mostly Harry/Eto fluff, so be prepared for that.**

**Now, I wouldn't be surprised if the CCG had some sort of protocol for publicly-known Ghoul or part-Ghoul Investigators in place, just in case. That's why I dubbed it the Quinx Protocol, after the Quinx Squad from ****_Tokyo Ghoul: re_****.**

**Review-answering time! ****LoamyCoffee****: I actually considered the surgery route, but that seemed to complicate things too much, and I thought a wizard would create a potion, not unlike a permanent Polyjuice of sorts.**

**Jostanos****: Oddly enough, I prefer the orchestral version of ****_Toccata and Fugue in D Minor_****. While the organ version is an enjoyable horror film cliché, when I rewatched the Disney film ****_Fantasia_**** a few years back, I was struck by the orchestral version of the piece they had at the beginning, how much more…complete it felt.**

**PrimeMegalodon****: I actually considered ****_rinkaku_**** quite seriously. It was always going to be either that or ****_ukaku_****. In fact, in my previous attempts at OEG Harry stories, he'd have a ****_rinkaku kagune_****, rather like a cluster of Cell's tails. You know, Cell from ****_Dragonball Z_****? As in, Harry could drink people with his ****_kagune_****. However, I felt that Voldemort and Rookwood would prefer not to have a Ghoul that could regenerate so easily as a foe. ****_Ukaku_****-wielding Ghouls can move fast, but they deplete their stamina quickly. Plus, I thought it apt, as Eto is also an ****_ukaku_****-wielder, as is Touka, who is paired with Harry in ****_Raptor of the 20_****_th_****_ Ward_****.**

**memoriesaremyreality****: In what way? If you mean that he is afraid of becoming a Ghoul, it's not quite as simple as that. He'd love to become a Ghoul to bond closer with Eto, true, but he's also aware of the realities of the situation. He is an Investigator of the CCG, and if his status came out, he'd be hunted down mercilessly. He'll spend some time coming to terms with it, not actually despairing, but worried and anxious, certainly.**

**Guest****: Voldemort was hoping that the CCG would turn on Harry and kill him. He wasn't aware of the Quinx Protocol. As for eating House Elves…well, I have in mind a suitable fate for Kreacher. Finally, the donut was merely conjured, it has no nutritional value whatsoever due to Gamp's Laws. If anything, it's probably good for a high-fibre diet at best…**

**No numbered annotations this time.**


	20. Chapter 19: Love and Monsters

**CHAPTER 19:**

**LOVE AND MONSTERS**

Tired from jetlag and lack of sleep, as well as heightened emotion, Harry fell asleep in Eto's arms, in her bed, until it came to late afternoon. Her smell was so enticing, and the fact that she could smell that way hit it home that he wasn't wholly human anymore. And it brought forth the emotions he had suppressed when he first transformed.

Eto held him, not to draw comfort from him, but to give him comfort. Her very presence allowed him to have a catharsis of emotion, of hysterical weeping, screaming, and laughter. And once it was all over, she led him back out of the bedroom, not caring that, while she had been in bed with him, she was down to a shirt and panties. Then again, Eto didn't truly care about societal norms. Ghouls broke one of the big ones, the one against cannibalism, all the time, after all. Of course, it was more than likely she did so to get a rise out of him anyway.

She had listened to his story as they lay in bed, and now, in her kitchen, nursing a cup of coffee, she looked thoughtful. "So, the CCG had something in place for a situation like this. I should have guessed. Hypocrites, the lot of them. Still, at least it means you won't be hunted down. For now, anyway."

Harry nodded. "But the moment I step out of line…"

"We'll burn that bridge when we come to it. Ditto bringing you in as the One-Eyed King," Eto said. "You've just gone through the transformation, we don't need to heap that onto you yet. Besides, we have greater priorities. Namely, tracking down whoever the fuck that did this to you and turn them into food. Voldemort, and either Rookwood, or whoever they got to transform you. Plus, whoever slipped you whatever changed you. Plus, training you to take them down. An _ukaku kagune_, as you know, isn't very good for prolonged combat. And I think we should get you started on developing a _kakuja_. But we'll need to be careful when doing that. I speak from experience when I say that developing a _kakuja_ isn't good for one's mental stability."

"Yeah. Plus, making me bulkier just makes me a bigger target for spells if I can't move faster."

"Hey! Are you saying I'm **_fat_** in my _kakuja?_" Eto demanded in mock-indignation.

"Well, I will say that you need to eat less junk food," Harry said with a smirk. "Too many trashy Ghouls, filled with empty carbs and RC Cells."

Eto's mock indignation clashed with her desire to just break down laughing. If anyone else had said that to her, even in a facetious way, she probably would have torn out their entrails and ate them. But she was so comfortable with her relationship with Harry, it was all she could do to keep up her glare, enhanced by her _kakugan_, before she finally gave into her desire to laugh. They both laughed, using humour to try and dispel some of the more serious emotions they were feeling. With Harry, it was a touch hysterical, given what he went through, but it was laughter all the same.

Wiping tears from her eyes, Eto sighed. "Oh, I needed that. But seriously, even if it's a liability against wizards, a _kakuja_ is still not a bad trump card to have. And thankfully, as you're a Dove and have had dealings with me, you know many ins and outs about Ghouls most people wouldn't know. Hell, you're more knowledgeable than some Ghouls. I swear, before he fucked off to Britain, Naki was such a retard. I know Ghouls find it hard to get an education, but there's a difference between uneducated and stupid. Naki is abysmally stupid. He also has the luck of the devil and the tenacity of a cockroach."

"Why you wanted him in Aogiri Tree, I have no idea," Harry muttered.

"He was useful, as long as he had babysitters. So was Jason. Not that it stopped them from jumping ship when Voldemort's little cocksuckers came around." Her smile changed to a warm, contemplative one. "You know…it's a little scary how well you have adapted to your circumstances. I guess part of it is your past as a Scrapper, as well as knowing me, and the truth behind the Washuu and V. But most people would be freaking out, trying to claw out their _kakuhou_ or something."

Harry nodded. "I know. I just…I told you how I wanted to be the one to give big brother the end he wanted. And to share your burden."

"Well, at least you weren't a moron enough to seek it out, Mini-Reaper," she said. "You're still able to eat normal food?"

"Yeah. It still smells and tastes fine. Big brother says he's getting me meat from where they source Cochlea's food for me, to make sure my hunger for human flesh doesn't become an issue."

She nodded. "Anyway…to many, becoming a Ghoul would be part of a tragedy, a horror story, a nightmare they couldn't wake from. Whereas to you…you embrace it. With caution and respect, true, but you already view it as a part of you. I think I know why. You already had to deal with Edward, a split personality. But from the beginning, you cooperated, despite his viciousness, because he was your protector while you were a Scrapper. He was a monster so you didn't have to be. I guess you could say he was your big brother before Arima came along."

"Hmm…I guess I thought of him like that, even if not consciously. But you have a point. Then again, given your profession, to say nothing of what you actually write, you have to be fairly good at analysing people and making connections even they may not have made."

"Thanks," Eto said. "Of Aogiri, I'll only be telling Noro and Tatara. Should the CCG decide to discard you, we will accept you into Aogiri Tree fully, though." She clapped her hands together. "Anyway…let's celebrate your new status as a One-Eyed Ghoul!" She got up from the table, and went to the fridge, where she opened up a drawer, hidden by a Notice Me Not, and fished out a small package. She then plonked two lumps of meat from the package onto a pair of plates, placing one in front of Harry.

It didn't look that different from normal raw meat. He knew where it came from, it was once part of a human being (and wasn't he grateful that, for a joke, she didn't give him something recognisable like an eyeball, a tongue, or, heaven help him, a penis?), but it just looked like normal meat. And yet, that smell was tickling at his nostrils, smelling like the best meat he had ever smelled in his life.

With a rueful expression, knowing he was taking another step away from humanity, a humanity he was nonetheless holding onto, he used a fork to spear the piece of meat, and ate it. He couldn't help the pleased moan that escaped his lips from the explosion of flavour. He heard Eto snickering.

"You do know you sounded like you jizzed in your pants from having a man's meat in your mouth," she snarked, chewing her own piece of meat.

Harry shot her a flat look, and retorted, "Like you haven't done the same while eating out a woman."

She shrugged, still grinning unrepentantly. "Yeah, you'll be fine. If you're making bad jokes about sex, you'll be all right." Taking their plates to the sink and washing them thoroughly, she said, "It's rare that Ghouls eat together. Because of our hunger, we tend to eat as solitary beings. My father tries to correct that. I can see his logic. Humans are social beings, unable to live without each other as much as we are unable to live with each other. We need to be social, if only to act as camouflage. But how many of us are truly friends with each other? Maybe it's the predatory instinct. Even humans have that, as they are omnivores, and thus prey on other animals. Every other human or Ghoul is possible competition. Or maybe it's what Schopenhauer called the Hedgehog's Dilemma, the one from _Evangelion_. Speaking of, we need to break out the plugsuits again come Halloween. I've been invited to a do at the publisher's, and you can be my Plus One."

Harry rolled his eyes. "You just want to grope me again."

"Yeah. Don't you?" she asked with a merry twinkle in her eyes.

"I just don't like to voice my thoughts, unlike Edward."

_Love ya too, Harry_, retorted Edward's cheerful tones within his head. _Come on, just give in and fuck her, already_.

"He just told you to have me do the horizontal tango, didn't he?" Eto asked. "You always have the same expression when he says something lewd. I know more than a few of your tics and tells. Harry…even before you had your little Kafka-esque metamorphosis, we knew we would be together. Some part of me calls me a moron for falling in love with a human, and a Dove at that, the brother of the Reaper. And yet…I don't regret this. I don't think I ever will. Life is filled with pain. Maybe that's the point of pain…to throw into relief the good things in life. Sometimes, they will fall into your lap, but other times, they have to be striven for, fought for. Besides, it's probably in my genes, given that my father fell for a human. But unlike him, I don't intend to sit idly by. I will change the world, and I intend to ensure that it's for the better. Not in little increments like he is with Anteiku and his little cabal."

"Yeah. You once wanted to just burn the world, didn't you?" Harry asked. "But now, you want to refine it. Rather than a wildfire, you want to put it through a crucible."

"Yeah. At the time, I just wanted to burn away with it. Heh. You've given me a reason to live beyond that, Harry. You'd better take responsibility."

"A bit rich, coming from Little Miss Tardy-to-Signings," Harry snarked.

"Meh, I need my beauty sleep to maintain my perfect good looks," the green-haired Ghoul retorted. "Shiono is a whiny little bitch of an editor. About the only thing he is good at is keeping my secret. Anyway, if you've actually got some leave, we are going to make the most of it. You and I are going on another date tonight. My treat this time, I think…"

* * *

Voldemort was not happy. True, he rarely was in a happy state of mind, usually stewing in a corrosive mire of hatred and anger. But at the moment, he was more mildly annoyed and miffed.

The reason why? Harry Arima, formerly Harry Potter, had slipped through his grasp. Instead of his transformation causing panic at Hogwarts, the boy had managed to keep his transformation a secret, and slipped back to Japan. Severus had told him nothing, and not even a rather precise use of the Cruciatus would get him to say much more than Harry leaving Hogwarts shortly after his dinner.

Well, that was more than a little irritating. It seemed that Harry had more nous than he'd considered. There was no sign of anything from the newspapers, Muggle or magical, and he was certain that there would have been an uproar about a Ghoul suddenly appearing within the ranks of the CCG. It would be a massive scandal after all.

Hmm. Perhaps something else would be needed, something to make Harry unleash the monster within, and thus discredit him. Voldemort remembered something Severus had told him, about some Japanese Muggle author called Sen Takatsuki, who wrote horror and thriller stories. Yes…yes, that had potential.

Had he heard the whole prophecy, and heard the line about a power he knows not, Voldemort would have sneered in contempt. He knew love very well, and spurned it as a weakness. Love was a weakness, one that Voldemort knew all too well how to exploit. When the bonds of love were severed, it could send the survivor into deepest despair or the hottest of furies. Love was something to exploit.

Voldemort knew he was poking a sleeping dragon, but a Ghoul was inferior to a wizard. Even a Ghoul with magic. Governed, in the end, by the basest of instincts. And when he saw the tortured and raped corpse of the love of his life, despair and anguish would cause him to rampage most publicly, thus further dividing those who would have the temerity to oppose him.

Poor Voldemort. He didn't know he was poking a sleeping dragon even worse than Harry Arima. Or rather, an Owl…

**CHAPTER 19 ANNOTATIONS:**

**Oh dear. Voldemort is about to make a VERY bad mistake…**

**Review-answering time! ****Jostanos****: Harry and Eto were always going to be lovers, before Harry was turned into a One-Eyed Ghoul. This just made their bond stronger, oddly enough. And no, because it would raise way too many questions, unless Eto, somehow, passed off herself as having been doped up by Voldemort using the potion. I don't think that's going to work, especially if she uses her ****_kakuja_****, which people will recognise as that of the One-Eyed Owl.**

**georgiaboy****: A good question, but for the sake of this story, I'm going to go with 'no'.**

**No numbered annotations this time.**


	21. Chapter 20: Waking the Owl

**CHAPTER 20:**

**WAKING THE OWL**

Eto ambled down the streets of Tokyo with a spring in her step. They'd had a fun time on their date yesterday, and while they hadn't gone as far as sleeping with each other onwards, they'd gone onto some heavy petting. However, Harry opted to head back to the Chateau today, and Eto was in a good mood. So much so, when she heard the voice of a man she hated after she passed him, her good mood was only slightly spoiled.

"Is it really you?"

Eto turned around to face the lined face of her father, Kuzen Yoshimura. "Who did you think it was, _otooou-san?_" she crooned sardonically(1). "You're quite a way away from your little coffee shop, aren't you?"

"I had an errand I needed to deal with," Kuzen said. "Well, less an errand and more of an obligation, to your mother. To lay flowers on her grave. I had just come back from there."

Eto fought down a flash of anger. It was a mite hypocritical of the murderer to lay flowers on the grave of the woman he killed, even if he had little choice. Instead, she remarked, a little acidly, "How kind of you."

"…Would you care to have some coffee?" he asked.

The suddenness of the question cut through Eto, and eventually, albeit a little reluctantly, she nodded…

* * *

They were soon sitting in a park, with cups of barista-brewed coffee from a nearby coffee stall. Said coffee stall was nonetheless one of the better ones in Tokyo, and was thus frequented by Ghouls who didn't go to a café like Anteiku. She'd brought out and activated an artifact similar to the one the Reaper used that night, having bought a supply for herself, ensuring that they wouldn't be overheard. "I'm surprised you assented to this," Kuzen said.

"I'm sure you are, father. I hate you, I despise you. But…I'm in a pretty good mood, and I won't say no to free coffee," Eto said, sipping from her own, with milk and sugar, two things that she knew Kuzen couldn't have. It was her way of taunting him. Petty, but she couldn't help herself. "Besides…your main sin was weakness, weakness to your paymasters in V, and their leash-holders in the Washuu."

"I see. So why have you decided to talk to me? We have seen each other since I left you with Noroi, but never truly interacting. And yet…now, you decided to speak with me?"

Eto shrugged. "Like I said, I'm in a pretty good mood. My boyfriend's back in Japan."

"…Yes, I've heard. You've been seen with the adopted brother of Kishou Arima. Harry Arima. So…does he know about you?"

"Both Arimas know about me. Let's just say that the Reaper despises the Washuu, and has good cause to. I also noticed you trying to divert attention away from me with your own antics, warping your _kakuja_ to match mine. Is it love or guilt that drives you to do that?"

"Both," the old man admitted.

Eto scoffed. "…I don't love you. I despise you. The only goodwill I have towards you is that you at least left me with Noroi than throwing me to the wolves. That, and, well, you're trying to do something with Anteiku."

Kuzen nodded solemnly. "…Is it too late to ask that you give up on Aogiri Tree and come back?"

Once more, Eto scoffed. "Of course it is. I know what you want to be, father. A tame Ghoul, pretending to be human, not trying to change the status quo. You want to forget when you were a vicious monster, first wild and untamed, and then straining at V's leash. Now…I may be more careful these days, and I'm not going to do some stupid Ghoul equivalent of a Neo-Nazi thing, or turning humans into mere cattle. My concern is with dealing with V, and with the Washuu, and then, I will ensure we have some hope for change, for the better. Because nothing will change for the better with the Washuu pulling the strings of the CCG."

"I see. I cannot condone your path of violence, Eto. But I won't change your mind. I know it's an exercise in futility. You're very much like your mother. Stubborn. Tenacious. Determined."

Eto took the compliment for what it was. "I know. But…to use an analogy from folklore…I intend to be a sword of Masamune, not Muramasa."

"I see. A blade that only cuts when necessary, rather than a bloodthirsty one. Then I pray your boyfriend keeps you on your path, Eto. However, if I may ask a favour…"

"Don't expect me to keep it, old man. If you're concerned about your little coffee shop, I won't get it involved in any spats between me and the CCG. Even if I hate your guts, I understand what you're trying to do, to protect other Ghouls, to try and get them to redeem themselves. I heard about your success stories with the Black Dobers and the Apes. Too much conflict, after all, only draws the CCG down on us."

"You view it in pragmatic terms, which I suppose is better than nothing."

Eto scoffed. "Father, I know the value of a human life, far more than most humans do, let alone most Ghouls. I may feed off humans, I may view most with contempt, but I know what I am taking from them. I've heard through other sources your little spiel about how life is evil, because it takes life all the time to survive. Blame God, or the forces of evolution, or just how fucked up the universe seems to be. You may have given me a life, but you never gave me hope for the future. Harry did that. Otherwise, I would be a nihilistic mess. I owe him my friendship, my devotion, and my heart. He is my Ukina, Father. Only, I won't be sacrificing him."

"I see. I am glad you have found someone to share your life with, Eto. Someone who will keep you from falling into the abyss. You deserve happiness. Still…should I have to give him the shovel speech?"

Eto snorted. "I'd do it for you. A shallow grave if he ever hurts me…well, a cesspit after I eat him and crap him out. Incidentally…I need to warn you about something. Someone has discovered a way to successfully create artificial Ghoul hybrids. And the CCG have been considering such things for a long time. The hybridisation process is…shall we say not exactly scientific?"

"You mean magical. I am aware, albeit distantly, of your boyfriend's abilities, and the existence of wizards. I have a few contacts in that world. So, the wizards have found a means to create artificial hybrids? It's not the first time they have tried, from what little I have heard. So, they succeeded?"

"Harry was the one they did it to. Thankfully, like me, he retains the ability to eat normal food, and the CCG have a protocol in place for such things. Of course, whether he's accepted there by everyone else…plus, the Washuu will use this as leverage."

"Hmm. How is he coping?"

"Better than you'd think. What he went through, as a Scrapper before the Reaper found him, twisted him out of shape. He had surprising empathy for Ghouls before this happened. In fact…I think he may just be what this fucked-up world needs. That being said...he's got a lot of enemies. Have you ever heard of Voldemort?"

"Yes…a warlock of no small reputation as a magical terrorist in Britain, one who allegedly died years ago."

"Yeah, well, it didn't stick, and he's got a bunch of magical Neo-Nazis at his beck and call. They were the ones to dope Harry with some sort of hybridisation potion. And while I like that my dear little Mini-Reaper is now a One-Eyed Ghoul like me…well, Voldemort did so to try and engage in character assassination. He wanted to humiliate Harry before he died. I'm taking issue with that. So…I'm gonna take the fight to him. Oh don't worry, father. I'm not gonna be stupid about it."

"I hope not. You may hate me, but…I still care for you. I do not wish to see you die because you sought revenge on an impulse."

"I'd rather make the other bastards die first…"

* * *

They parted ways on, if not good terms, then cordial ones. Eto felt herself conflicted. She'd held onto her hate for her father all her life, but she also knew he tried to do some good, to atone for his sins. He genuinely felt something for her.

But he didn't want to change the world. At best, he wanted to make a tiny corner of it better. Eto, however, was going to do better than a coffee shop in part of Tokyo. She wanted to shake up the established order.

Ambivalence. Yes, that was it. She felt ambivalent about her father. The hatred was still there, and always would. And she'd be damned if love for him, the love a daughter had for her father rather than an Electra Complex (she liked some weird shit, but the only way she would have anything to do with an Electra Complex was to write it in one of her stories). But...the hatred had died down a little.

While she was caught up in her thoughts, she wasn't so caught up in them that she didn't notice her tails. Even if they hadn't been dressed in old-fashioned European clothes that went out of fashion at about the same time as the Titanic did, she would have noticed them. She smirked as she realised something. There was an entrance to the 24th Ward very close by. That great underground warren, filled with danger.

With a smirk, she slipped into a dilapidated building, and then, using her speed, rushed to the entrance, hidden by a manhole cover, slipped down it, and slipped into the shadows, extruding her _kakuja_ as she did so. She then clung to the ceiling.

They soon stormed in, noisily and without any pretence at stealth. Stupid wizards, and British ones, judging by the way they spoke English. "Where's the little bitch?" snarled one.

"She can't have gone far! She couldn't have gotten away so fast! Anyway, what is this place?"

Eto grinned, before she threw her voice. It was a trick Noroi had taught her, to unnerve her enemies. "**_This is my home, gentlemen. My domain. My…kingdom._**" Her voice, warped and distorted by her transformation, echoed eerily. "**_Welcome…to the 24_****_th_****_ Ward._**"

"Who are you? Show yourself!" roared one.

Eto chuckled, even as she moved around stealthily. "**_I think not. Hmm, I let Little Red Riding Hood pass, and caught myself a bigger prize. You fools think yourselves the Big Bad Wolves of this story._**" Suddenly, she sent a hail of crystal from her _kagune_, killing two of them, and as she dodged the spells that promptly fired off in her general direction, she taunted, "**_But you're just the…one, two, three, four…Four Little Pigs now. SQUEAL FOR ME PIGGIES!_**"

The fight that followed was brief. They fought back, true, but her speed, even in her _kakuja_ form, was superlative. And she knew this place better than they did. They were literally taking shots in the dark, whereas she had fairly good night vision. Soon, only one was left alive, his arms torn from his body. He'd bleed out soon. But he managed to cover up his fear with defiant anger. "…Just you see…the Dark Lord…won't take…this lying down…we will…give Arima…his whore's corpse…"

Eto cocked her head quizzically, the gesture endearing even in her monstrous kakuja form. "**_Oh? You mean Voldemort?_**"

"Don't you **_dare_** speak his name so casually, you filthy creature!" he snarled.

"**_And yet, this filthy creature ended your miserable existences_**," Eto said, before allowing her _kakuja_ to dissipate. "And I am VERY protective of my boyfriend. Voldemort is just a minnow, and I am a shark."

"You…you're a Ghoul? Arima's whore…is a Ghoul?"

Eto's eyes narrowed, before her hand lashed out, tearing through the wizard's chest, and ripped out his heart. With an evil grin, she bit into it as the man watched, his dying vision being her eating his own heart.

It was spoiled a moment later when she spat it out. "Ugh! You know, given your scarecrow looks, you've been in Azkaban for too long. Your heart certainly tastes that way. I like eating hearts normally, but yours may have put me off them," she grumbled in annoyance.

* * *

She soon contacted the Arimas, reassuring them that she was all right. The cover story was that Sen Takatsuki had been in the 24th Ward on and off out of curiosity, as well as research for her books, and had been able to lure her would-be attackers through there. What happened to the Death Eaters, as they turned out to be, was SEP.

The Japanese Ministry was in uproar as to how a group of British wizards slipped in, though that was because Lucius Malfoy had enough connections and money to allow them to come in without much trouble. Thankfully, given Sen Takatsuki's already known ditziness and her penchant for horror novels, her going into the 24th Ward was never questioned, chalked down to a potentially lethal eccentricity.

Still, Eto had had enough. So, that night, she headed to Aogiri Tree's headquarters, and met with Tatara. He didn't waste any time with any fripperies like asking after her health. "Well?"

"If you think I am going to get Aogiri Tree involved in this, I am not. Voldemort targeted me to get to Harry. He failed, but I cannot be sure he won't succeed if he tries again. Therefore…I am heading back to Britain later on. I'm taking the fight to Voldemort."

"Without Aogiri Tree?"

"I may be your leader, Tatara, but I know you can carry on my work without me, and I don't want to drag any of my followers into a battle they have little investment in. I'm not stupid. Going up against Voldemort could mean my death. I don't intend to die, and I'm going to make absolutely sure that I stay alive. But…if something does happen, I want you to promise me two things."

Tatara nodded. "You wish me to continue your will."

"Yeah. But also, another thing." She explained about Harry being turned into a One-Eyed Ghoul. "So…if Harry ever gets expelled from the CCG…he is to have a place in Aogiri, regardless of whether I am alive or not."

"Understood," Tatara said. He knew Harry Arima and his potential involvement in the plans Eto and Kishou Arima had drawn up. His loyalty to Eto was absolute. Whatever she asked of him, he would obey.

She hoped it would not come to it, though. She intended to wreak absolute havoc on Voldemort and his followers, and survive. And she was going to deliver Voldemort's carcass to Harry. Then, they would have a feast for two. How did the Addams Family motto put it? _Sic Gorgiamus Allos Subjectatos Nunc_. Or, from crappy Latin to pretentious English, _We gladly feast on those who would dare subdue us_…

**CHAPTER 20 ANNOTATIONS:**

**Oh dear. Eto's on the warpath. Sadly, this may be the last chapter for a while. But considering you just got a burst of four chapters all at once, well…that's something.**

**Also, Eto reuniting with her father. I think that, even if she was the canonical Eto, such a coincidental meeting may have gone rather similarly. I think what she feels for her father, while mostly hatred, is complicated. She does have her mother's journals, after all, and she knows what kind of man her father is, but it's also been tainted by bitterness about what happened to her in the 24****th**** Ward, as well as her mother's fate. She doesn't love her father, and what little admiration she has for him is tainted by Ukina's death and her abandonment. She understands why he did so on a rational, logical level, but she still hates and resents him for it.**

**On the other hand, while she sneers at him for not doing enough for Ghouls everywhere, she also recognises what he does with Anteiku, and because of Harry's influence, she decides, as a courtesy, to try and avoid getting any Ghouls involved with Anteiku caught up in her war against the Washuu. This is certainly a difference to canon. Eto actually has more empathy here than in canon, though she's still a sociopath. Just less of one.**

**1\. I generally avoid gratuitous Japanese terms and honorifics, but Maaya Sakamoto's delivery of "Otou-san" in the penultimate episode of ****_Tokyo Ghoul √A_**** is so chilling and deranged, I just had to use it. Lindsay Siedel's "Hello there, Father", while chilling, doesn't quite have the right childish quality Sakamoto did. It goes to show how versatile Sakamoto is: I've heard her as Mari from ****_Rebuild of Evangelion_****, as well as Da Vinci, Jeanne d'Arc (all three versions), and young Iskandar from the Nasuverse.**


	22. Chapter 21: A Dark Resolution

**CHAPTER 21:**

**A DARK RESOLUTION**

In Greco-Roman mythology, the deity Athena, or Minerva, depending on whether it was the Greeks or Romans you spoke to, was a female deity of both wisdom and war. Her wrath and cruelty were also known in many myths, transforming those who offended her into monsters, like Arachne, or Medusa. She was a powerful figure amongst the misogynistic Greeks and Romans.

And one of her most potent symbols was that of the owl, usually the little owl, _Athene noctua_.

Eto wondered once, when she heard of that little tidbit, whether Athena or Minerva had cursed her in some past life. But she knew blaming deities for misfortunes in life was a fruitless exercise. She didn't believe in any god, whether it be of the Shinto of Japan, or Buddhism, or any of the Abrahamic religions, or any other creed. People used gods as an excuse to do atrocities, not wanting to believe that only an apathetic or immoral god would exist in this world. Given how many deities in the Greco-Roman pantheon acted evil, she'd probably believe in them, if they existed.

In truth, life was an ephemeral period of awareness bracketed by eternal periods of oblivion. She personally hoped that reincarnation was a thing, but she was also an agnostic bordering on the atheistic. She wasn't exactly holding her breath.

It also meant that she knew the value of a life. True, she had a rather cavalier attitude to it, given her origins, but she also knew that death was forever. Then again, it made her better than so many others with such a cavalier attitude to life. Look at the Washuu clan. They killed their own kind indiscriminately, all in the name of gaining and retaining power. Eto may have been a monster, but she intended to work for the betterment of as many Ghouls as possible, and not just a family with a gene pool that was more of a puddle with the water quality of a cesspit. Even the Purebloods had more genetic variety than the Washuu clan, even if it was the difference between a puddle and a kitchen sink.

Anyway, the point was, Eto knew she was evil, perhaps irredeemably so. But she intended to be evil for a greater good, one she would sacrifice herself for if need be. She intended to bring the Washuu clan down. And she now would do so with Harry's help. He would become the One-Eyed King, the figure of hope for all Ghouls, she swore it.

After dealing with the mess of Voldemort's clumsy attempt to murder her, and seeing Tatara, she went back to her apartment. No, to her home. Well, one of them. Her apartment was her home when she straddled the line all Ghouls wishing to hide in plain sight must, the line betwixt human and Ghoul. When she embraced her Ghoul nature, it was at Aogiri Tree's headquarters. Both, she had realised consciously, were her home.

She was stuck between worlds, human and Ghoul. Had her father not abandoned her in the 24th Ward, had he the courage to raise her himself as redemption for what he did, or else left her with someone who didn't live in a place as dangerous as the 24th Ward…maybe she wouldn't be the mess she was. She was damaged goods. Then again, the most interesting people tended to be. That had to be part of the reason why she was drawn to Harry.

Harry…you could say many things about why she was attracted to him, and they'd all come about as generic, clichéd, even twee. His looks, his intelligence, his strength, his determination, his caring nature…you could list off all these things, and it'd sound like some overblown heroine of some trashy romance book. Oh, they were true, but they made her sound like…a caricature. Someone who had finally found their soulmate and would wax lyrical about it _ad nauseum_.

He was also her muse, but even that was not uncommon amongst writers, finding muses amongst their lovers. And too often, that was a self-destructive relationship, giving some verisimilitude to the Irish legend of the Leanan Sídhe, the fae muse that sapped the artist's lifeforce and sanity in exchange for inspiration. In truth, Eto was more likely to fill the role of the seductive and capricious fairy herself.

If there was something more unique to Eto that Harry did for her, it was this: he gave her her humanity back. Until he came along and befriended her, her humanity, her human side, was merely a mask, a convenient disguise left for her by her mother, allowing her to immerse herself in human society whenever she wanted. She didn't view it as truly part of her. She may be half-human, and thus able to eat normal foods, but she was still a Ghoul, condemned by her father's genetics to eat human flesh. She was raised in the 24th Ward as a Ghoul. She was hunted by the CCG as a Ghoul. And the moment she revealed that Sen Takatsuki was actually a Ghoul…well, the term shitstorm came to mind.

Harry changed that. By treating her like a friend, like she was a person…he changed that. That was probably why the Reaper brought them together. Because he knew they'd be good for each other. In truth, she felt that Kishou Arima saw the future in them both, and had them meet each other so that they'd both have a desire for the future. Because Arima saw the self-destructive tendencies within her, and realised that she shouldn't have them so young.

She could say that Harry completed her, but that was wrong and stupidly clichéd. They were both broken, and would never be complete, even with another. It was more correct to say that they _complemented_ each other, that the sum of them together helped make a greater whole, so to speak.

With that thought in mind, she walked over to a drawer as she waited for her food to cook. On her request, Harry had layered it with a number of charms to prevent it from being noticed. She slid it open, and pulled out a sheaf of papers. They were actually the very ones she had been jotting ideas down on when Harry came to see her and tell her he was going to Britain.

She was being a little misleading when she said they weren't her plans for world domination. True, the notes didn't actually have any plans for any such thing, but they were part of the plan, the One-Eyed King plan. Part of it would have her release a certain book at just the right time, to make a splash in the public's consciousness. Indeed, it was not a book as much as a _weapon_, a weapon that would not harm or kill bodies, but rather stick in people's minds, make them think, one way or another. The notes were notes she was writing on a particular book, notes she was going to show Harry for the first time. She was always going to show it to him, eventually, but now, given his metamorphosis, given that he would be, in a way, her main character, he deserved to see it now.

The title she had settled on a long time ago was _King Bileygr_.

* * *

He was being trained, and very hard. While his training under his big brother had been arduous before, Kishou was taking it up a level, once Harry learned how to bring out his _kagune_ at will. In truth, learning how to use his new abilities as a Ghoul was hard. It was like learning how to use an extra limb that he'd suddenly grown…well, it wasn't just _like_ it, but rather, exactly that.

Kureo Mado had come in during the day's training session, to watch. His reaction to Harry's metamorphosis was curious. In fact, that was what it was: curiosity, albeit of a rather disconcerting kind. Like a scientist observing some fascinating specimen.

His big brother told him the rather disturbing reason for this: Kureo, after having the Quinx Protocol explained to him, had taken a disturbing view of Harry. He at least accepted that, as long as Harry ate meat provided by the CCG, he was not an enemy. But he also seemed to think that Harry might be the key to finally realising his dream of vanquishing the One-Eyed Owl. He was making enquiries about _kakujas_, and how they formed. What was more, he was discussing matters with that twat Marude.

During the training, Shinohara and Rei arrived, and Rei joined in the training. The two ex-Scrappers trained together pretty well, and Harry knew that Rei would become one of the best Doves that ever lived. And hopefully, Shinohara would be able to repair the tattered remnants of Rei's humanity.

However, he decided to go and pay Eto an visit. After what happened to her during his training, he felt he needed to. True, she could handle most wizarding scrubs. She was a bigger monster than almost anything Voldemort could throw at her. But she was not invincible. She was also aware of that, as was Harry.

He was surprised when Eto greeted him at the door. While he had phoned ahead, it seemed like she was expecting him, and for more than a social call. There was something anticipatory in her gaze.

She sat him down at the table, and served up some tea. As they began imbibing it, Eto said, "I know your positon has become precarious, given your current state. But…I think it's time we brought you further into the One-Eyed King plan. I know you knew about the plan in broad details."

"Yes. Try to find a One-Eyed Ghoul, artificial or not, to set up as a figurehead, one who would become powerful enough to defeat my brother," Harry said. "He's the actual One-Eyed King, and only with his overthrow would we be seen as strong enough to take the battle to the Washuu clan."

"That's pretty much the plan in broad terms. I based the legend off that of the Underground King. About a century ago, in Tokyo, one of the Washuu clan, a rare One-Eyed Ghoul, rebelled, and laid waste to what would become the 24th Ward. Even now, his name has been mostly erased from history. The Underground King, the Naagaraji, and so many other names have been given to him instead. Oh, he's real, very real. I once stumbled across his remains, deep within the 24th Ward. I was fleeing from V at the time, just after they murdered Noroi. There's the remnants of a city…built over long ago. Harry…if only you saw what I saw. A massive _kakuja_, petrified, like something out of HP Lovecraft or a _kaiju_ film or some weird monster from a mecha series like from _Evangelion_. How he died, I have no idea. Maybe he hasn't. Maybe all that's left of him is screaming within his petrified shell. I certainly felt _something_ there, even if it was merely inspiration for later. Anyway…your brother's death would have only been the beginning. It would have caused a massive upset in the status quo…except the CCG and the Washuu would only step up their crusade. Hence this."

She slid over a sheaf of papers. He recognised them. "The ones you were working on when I came over," he realised.

"Yeah. I've been working on this story ever since I met your brother," Eto said. "I have the broad terms of the story worked out. It's going to be one I'm working on until you are ready."

"Ready to take the throne my brother's keeping warm for me?" Harry asked, remembering Eto using the term before.

"Of course. In broad terms, the story tells the tale of a One-Eyed Ghoul, simply dubbed _Mumei_, or Nameless, bringing his people to freedom. I do have to be careful. I want it to be entertaining, not needlessly clichéd and messianic," Eto said. "I want to get people to _think_. Basically…this story will be a weapon. Not a physical weapon, but a memetic one. While strength of arms and materiel have won wars, so has propaganda. Bolstering the populace, sewing discord amongst the enemy…art has a long history of being used to shape the way people think. With this, we make humans reconsider what being a Ghoul is truly like, and whether their extermination of us is the right answer. Of course, we won't persuade anywhere near everyone. But humanity will not be a united front. Even now, research into trying to assist Ghouls in any way is mercilessly stifled, even finding ways to create some sort of artificial human flesh. This is due in part to the Washuu and their supporters…though they've also manipulated various influential people across the world. This, along with your brother's death, will be not so much a shot across the bows as a broadside. Harry, I know this is a lot to ask of you, but…"

"You needn't ask. I wanted to help with this for a long time. As long as I'm not being a pawn, but a player, then I'm fine. As long as we don't kill unnecessarily, I'm fine."

"I know. You have these annoying qualms, but I guess that's what makes you interesting. You're not overly righteous, you just have principles. But when it comes to enemies you need to kill…well, you're like the Reaper. That being said…I've made up my mind, Harry. Voldemort sent people after me. He tried to get to you through me. And I take umbrage at that. So…I'm coming with you when we get back to Britain…and, well…be vewwy qwiet…it's warlock season." She then gave a passable imitation of Elmer Fudd's staccato laugh.

Harry scoffed, but he smiled sadly at Eto. "Eto…I know I can't stop you, but do you even know where to begin to find him? Have you got a way to win against him?"

"I'm sure I can find a way. He's probably holding court at one of his cocksuckers' manors, probably Malfoy's. We will be fighting together, even if it's on two different fronts. Anyway…I'm more worried about how your new status will hold up. The CCG may handle you, but what if the wizards learn of it? After all, Voldemort was probably the one behind your metamorphosis, and if he leaks the information…well, they'd turn on you in an instant."

"We'll burn that bridge when we come to it, Eto. Anyway, I've got the day off for now. What do you want to do?"

And then, Eto got a sly smirk that had Harry both nervous and excited, and Edward growling lustfully in his head. "Oh, I have one or two ideas…"

* * *

Augusta smirked as the House Elf took that overly bleached hag's body away. Rita Skeeter's usefulness had just reached its zenith. It was best to nip her in the bud before the bitch turned on her. Hence what she just did. A Cutting Curse pulped her head shortly as she turned to leave, and soon, her body would be rendered down into compost, and fed into the greenhouses around the estate. Nobody would really miss her. Rita Skeeter was only courted by those who wanted to wield her against their enemies, never believing that the bitch would never turn on them. Augusta knew better. Her star was already on the wane thanks to her grandson and the Mudblood bint Granger having dirt on her. She would turn on them the moment she could. This was just pre-emptive.

Still, her information was useful. Rita had finally managed to get to Japan shortly after **_that boy_** fled there from Hogwarts for some reason. Rita had managed to follow **_that boy_** into the CCG, via her Animagus form, and learned that **_that boy_** was now a Ghoul, thanks to Voldemort. Skeeter had been worried about being found, so she didn't bother following **_that boy_** anywhere else.

Whether or not the CCG was going to allow **_that boy_** to continue to be one of their agents was irrelevant. Instead, Augusta was going to ensure that they, along with everyone else, knew their place in the pecking order. Some upstart organisation of Muggles and Mudblood dropouts, playing at destroying dark creatures, was right at the bottom.

With this, she would ensure that the Ministry followed her beck and call once more. She would ensure Dumbledore was toppled off his pedestal, to make room for her. She would ensure that **_that boy_** would be exterminated like the filthy pest that he was.

Some tips to the _Daily Prophet_, some monies to some of Algie's old acquaintances, and some words to that fool Saul (and hopefully, he would listen, and jump at the chance to vivisect a Ghoul hybrid). That was what was needed to ensure that all was right with her world. Because it was HER world. Nobody else's. She would have all her enemies tearing each other apart, before she stood astride at the top of the heap, using Neville, the true Boy Who Lived, as her proxy.

Augusta had succumbed to a heady brew of senility and megalomania. She thought all her problems would go away if she did this. But though they would not, she would be causing one hell of a mess in Magical Britain, one she did out of sheer unbridled ambition…

**CHAPTER 21 ANNOTATIONS:**

**So, Harry and Eto have been plotting together, and they've finally decided to bite the bullet…well, each other's shoulders. But Augusta has just decided to be a major fly in the ointment. Oh, and Rita's dead. No big loss. Thankfully, she didn't discover Eto's secret, having decided that Harry being a One-Eyed Ghoul and the CCG allowing this to be scandal enough for Augusta. Next chapter (which I don't know when it will be coming out), Augusta's senile ambitions come to bite them in the arse…and just after Harry and Eto (and Edward) have had such a good day and night too…**

**Review-answering time! ****rmarcano321****: If we're talking honorifics and the like, I generally avoid them. I use English equivalents for some of the more important ones. Sometimes, I will use them for either emphasis or comic effect (like Rei/Juuzou calling Harry 'Sensei-Senpai' in this story), or if there isn't a good English equivalent. It really bugs me that a number of fanfics use them, and overly use them at that. For all that her fanfics are entertaining, sakurademonalchemist is an egregious offender in this regard.**

**Connorfig****: Exactly.**

**LoamyCoffee****: Eto generally prefers horror movies and psychological thrillers, and while I've mentioned a lot of Western works, she also loves J-Horror stuff like ****_Ring_**** or ****_The Grudge_****. However, she's also acquired a taste for comedy, particularly British stuff. Being set around 2006, one of her favourite TV shows (aside from the usual British comedy suspects like Monty Python and anything by Ben Elton or Richard Curtis) is ****_The League of Gentlemen_****, as its mixture of comedy and horror appeals to her (I'm probably projecting my own interests onto her, as I was something of a fan of that show some time ago). She'd probably lap up ****_Psychoville_**** when it comes out in a few years afterwards. The movie versions of ****_The Addams Family_**** also appeals to her. Hmm…I wonder…I feel a crossover challenge coming on…**

**Guest****: Regarding Siedel's performance, you probably have a point. In the manga, the line is translated as "Hi, Dad. 3" (Her expression is a lot more deranged in the manga as well, and yes, that is a love heart). Siedel does play the line as deranged and intimate, but it doesn't quite have the same chilling nature as Maaya Sakamoto. Unfortunately, my lack of familiarity with ****_Buffy_**** means I'll have to take your word for it.**

**No numbered annotations this time.**


	23. Chapter 22: A Declaration of War

**CHAPTER 22:**

**A DECLARATION OF WAR**

Eto woke up gradually and reluctantly. She was warm and content, beneath the covers, clinging to her lover, savouring his smell, her smell, _their_ smell. Half-asleep, she licked at his shoulder, her tongue feeling the wound from the bite mark she inflicted there. A similar wound throbbed on her own shoulder, but the pain was nothing. She'd felt true pain, and the aches from their lovemaking and the throb from the bite mark on her shoulder were nothing compared to what she had gone through earlier in life.

It was a Ghoul tradition, to mark mates by biting each other's shoulders. Supposedly, it led to wounds that would never heal completely, merely scar, despite the prodigious regeneration of Ghouls. It was also an intimate sign of connection, because Ghouls tasted bad to other Ghouls. She should know, she ate enough Ghoul flesh to develop a _kakuja_. It often tasted like rotten fish guts smelled. So biting each other was a sign of trust, of love winning over the repulsion.

But a One-Eyed Ghoul? She knew some of those upper-class snobs who frequented Ghoul Restaurants would probably wax lyrical about subtleties of taste, of complex flavours. What her lover's flesh tasted like was…well, if she had to say something poetic, she'd also sum it up in a single word: bittersweet. Not in a bad way by any means. It felt more _interesting_ on the tongue than the flesh of any humans she had consumed. Like how dark chocolate was more interesting than plain old dairy milk.

Plus, it was one hell of an aphrodisiac.

Harry was in control most of the time, though Edward had his turn. You'd think an entity like Edward would be rough and violent, but in truth, a better adjective would be _wild_. Edward was very conscious of ensuring Eto was pleasured. It would also be better to say that Harry, while not actually submissive, didn't attempt to dominate her like Edward did, not that she allowed the alternate personality to do so. She reckoned he loved the fact that they both clawed for supremacy as they made love. She certainly did.

Still, she was glad that he'd used protection, though she had kept a supply of prophylactics ready for this day. They were still way too young to have kids. Hell, would they ever be suitable parents? She was a sociopath, he had a split personality, and they were both cannibalistic hybrids. That would take a lot of work to make into a loving family unit.

Maybe she would. Maybe she would do it, just to prove she could, to prove she was better than her father, that even a monster like her could not only feel romantic love, but maternal love. She was fixated on changing the world before she turned 30. Having a family would be a doddle by comparison. Well, unless their hybrid physiology made having kids troublesome. Maybe she could create something good, more good than she destroyed.

Suddenly, the ringtone of Harry's phone sang out, and he woke up, fumbling for the phone. "_Moshi-moshi?_" he asked sleepily, before his eyes widened. "What? What. But how can…how's the Ministry here reacting? Okay, that's…good, I guess, but the British…damn. Damn them. Baum? Good, so the old goat is protecting her…God knows how long that will last. The Grangers? Okay. But who did this?" A long pause. "…So we don't know for sure. And that idiot…so…how are we going to respond? Right. I'll let her know. Sorry, we've been…preoccupied. No, we've finished. No, we were careful. Yes, even Edward. He's my id, not an idiot. Right. I'll be there as soon as I can." He hung up the phone, but looked like he wanted nothing more than to fling it at the wall in a rage. "Bastards…"

"What's the matter?" Eto asked.

"…My status as a One-Eyed Ghoul came out somehow. The CCG branch in London has been destroyed, and a number of the ones in Britain, including Glasgow, Belfast and Cardiff have been attacked by…well, some of them have been captured by survivors of the London branch, and have been subjected to Veritaserum interrogation. They're not Death Eaters, Eto…they're from the Ministry of Magic. One of them is a known Unspeakable, and none of them have the Dark Mark. However, the British Ministry has now declared war on the CCG, deciding it to be an organisation that must be destroyed. In fact, Fudge seems to have seized on the Quinx Protocol as proof that the CCG can't be trusted, and now the Aurors have been sent to take action. Hermione's parents survived, thankfully. But, Fudge views Dumbledore's cooperation with the CCG as proof that he was plotting to take over. The DMLE, however, has refused to move without evidence of any wrongdoing."

"…Who did this?"

"…We don't know. The Unspeakable had no idea, just orders from above. Even if he did know, the Unspeakables know all sorts of esoteric magic that could be used to conceal this. The problem is, Fudge has demanded my extradition from Japan, and they may use you to get to me. The Japanese Ministry may not like the CCG much, but publicly, they're supporting us, even if only grudgingly. However, some elements may act against me. Even if they don't…well, the British may come here anyway."

"Even if the ICW objects?" Eto asked.

"The ICW is ineffectual at best, and at worst, as corrupt as every magical government the world over. By the time they take any action, it'll be too late, and in any case, many member countries hate the CCG, and would prefer any Ghoul-hunting to be done by the local DMLEs, not by any Muggle agency, even though Ghouls are not magical creatures. They'd probably let the CCG and the British Ministry fight, and point and laugh at the loser in private while clucking sadly at the violence in public."

"Because of course the world would be like that," Eto remarked bitterly.

"Yeah. Big brother…he's agreed to let you stay at the Chateau if you need it. Of course, if you'd prefer to stay with Aogiri Tree…"

"I think I will stay with them, for now. At least until you're ready to take the fight to them. I'm worried I may slip up in the Chateau while another Dove is there. Actually, could you make me a Portkey to headquarters?"

Harry nodded. "You're going to pack or something?"

"Just some of the more vital stuff. If wizards really are coming for you or come for me to get to you, I'll get rid of the most incriminating stuff…"

* * *

After making sure that Eto got away okay, Harry used Apparition to get to CCG HQ, not trusting the streets. It was where his brother told him to meet him. He Apparated onto the roof, where his brother was waiting for him silently, along with Kureo Mado. "Well, well…it seems that there has been a leak," Mado remarked, trotting over to the edge of the roof, and gesturing for Harry to look down at the ground. He did so, and saw a crowd of reporters. "Or perhaps the attacks on the British CCG branches have gotten their attention."

"There was no leak," Arima said, walking over. "The Chairman has announced that he would be holding a press conference soon. However, many are aware of the attacks on the CCG in Britain, and believe it to be part of the press conference, which is true. But the mundane governments of Britain and Japan have become aware, thanks to their magical counterparts, that you are an artificial One-Eyed Ghoul."

"So, what, he's going to reveal my status to the world?" Harry demanded.

"No. That would only be if necessary. Publicising your status, in any case, may remove the element of surprise if you are to be fighting Ghouls." Though Harry knew that at least the top members of Aogiri Tree would know, via Eto.

"Shame," Mado remarked. "I'd have loved to see how that old fossilised scion of the Washuu family handled that. It's not often you see him out from behind his desk, cultivating piles, or heading to that place you came out of, Arima. Then again, since he's so full of shit, if he makes too many public proclamations, he'll shrink away to nothing."

"Don't let the Chairman hear you say that," Arima warned, though the faintest of smiles touched his lips. "Or Marude."

Mado scoffed. "I know what they call me behind my back. And a lot of people demean my dear Akira behind her back, because of my ways, and her genius. Unlike Marude, or some others I can name, I don't suck Washuu cock. It's why I like you two. While you show the Washuu due deference and respect, you also have enough of a brain to see that there's more going on than meets the eye. I prefer mavericks and prodigies than what are really yes-men and salarymen wielding Quinques. Following intuition and instinct is better than following orders. You never know when they'll lead you blindly into the abyss…"

* * *

Harry watched from behind Tsuneyoshi Washuu, the old man making a rare press conference in the lobby of the CCG, Harry's _kakugan_ covered by an eyepatch. The old man had an impressive presence, but Harry had to remind himself that this man was a hypocrite and a villain. He was a Ghoul masterminding the hunting of his own kind, not out of altruism, but out of a desire to retain power. He was also a rapist, siring half-breeds and full-blooded Ghouls to unwilling mothers out of some bizarre idea of a breeding program at the Sunlit Garden, of which his big brother was one of them. He also didn't care if his chosen broodmare was even of age.

Harry knew that they were going to make him die slowly. In fact, he reckoned he and Eto would take turns dismembering that evil, antediluvian son of a bitch over a protracted period. But for now, he had to walk the tightrope, one where one wrong move could send him hurtling into the abyss.

The Chairman began his speech. "You will doubtlessly be aware by now of the attacks on the British branches of the CCG. What you don't know is that they have been sanctioned by elements of the British authorities who, while secretive, wield substantial power. They also have been in competition with the CCG since we were first founded, due to their belief that they could handle Ghouls in a better manner. This is a mistaken belief, founded in hubris. In addition, a terrorist responsible for a number of attacks during the Eighties and Nineties in Britain has re-emerged from hiding. This man was the one responsible for the murder of Provisional Investigator Harry Arima's birth parents. He now intends to finish what he started, and has also begun recruiting Ghouls to act as his own personal army. Provisional Investigator Arima survived one attempt, though not unscathed, as you can see."

Harry flinched at the strobes of camera flashes, cursing the old fart in his head for this. He didn't want attention drawn to him. Edward growled in his head protectively.

"He was on a mission to Britain partly to deal with the rising Ghoul threat there when it happened. However, these secretive elements of the British authorities have decided that the CCG was a threat to their power, and have attacked our branches, declaring us to be an outlawed organisation, despite the fact that the British government has issued no such proclamation. In short, they have made a declaration of war for no good reason other than to hold onto their shaky grasp of power. The very same elements who, due to corruption and bribery, allowed the associates of the terrorist to go free. But I say to you…this will NOT stand! Many of our personnel in Britain have been _murdered_, and the rest forced to take refuge. In doing so, and not focusing on the threat of the Ghouls, these elements of the British authorities, old, calcified and corrupt, are effectively aiding the Ghouls. I say again, _THIS WILL __**NOT**__ STAND!_"

Silence fell over the lobby. Finally, he began anew. "…This declaration of war will not go unanswered. The British government, the part that stands in the light, by the side of justice, has agreed to aid us. The Commission for Countering Ghouls is going to war. The Ghouls in Britain will be exterminated. Those who recruited them and those who have attacked us will be brought to account for their crimes, and treated like the terrorists they are! This is not a threat, but a promise of justice."

Harry tuned the rest of the speech out. He had to wonder, though, how they were going to accomplish this. The DMLE in Britain might be on their side for the moment, but it seemed that the British Ministry of Magic and Voldemort were out to get them. Wizards may not be as invincible as they thought themselves to be, but they were still a potential challenge to any Dove.

Still, the gauntlet had been thrown down. It was time to show the British Ministry of Magic that they had just made a lethal error…

**CHAPTER 22 ANNOTATIONS:**

**Oh dear. Augusta, you done goofed. You just had to do it just after Harry got himself a Patronus memory to die for. You've just pissed off the CCG ****_and_**** the One-Eyed Owl. That is what we know in the industry as 'suicide'.**

**Also, Kureo Mado's characterisation here. I got the feeling from his actions in canon that he doesn't care much for authority, which probably contributed to his reputation as being obsessed with Quinques. I expanded on that to have him rather disdainful of Marude. They are sort of friends and respect each other as colleagues, but Mado views him as a suck-up to the Washuu. Mado's instincts give him something of a distrust of the Washuu. Ah, if only he knew…**

**Review-answering time! ****DZ2****: If she's lucky and someone is merciful. In all likelihood, she's going to end up as Ghoul shit.**

**Guest****: Yeah, she's deluded. She doesn't care what happens as long as she stands on top afterwards. As for the Underground King, I don't know how he ended up petrified, but I don't think a mandrake draught will work after so long.**

**deathgeneous****: There was once an Augusta-bashing fic like this, or at least a story that would have turned out like this. Sadly, it has since been deleted, but I'm pretty sure it was DetectiveFox's attempt at rewriting their ****_Rise of the Night Sky_**** story. I felt that Janus needed to be a WBWL story, but writing it as a James-bashing fic was getting samey, and they tend to be controversial, as the likes of ****_Love and War_**** and ****_Cambion_**** have proved.**

**No numbered annotations this time.**


	24. Chapter 23: Preparations to Return

**CHAPTER 23:**

**PREPARATIONS TO RETURN**

Eto wrinkled her nose at the TV screen as she watched the CCG press conference with Tatara and Noro. "Yeesh, Old Man Washuu's going for a whole _Triumph of the Will_ thing. Okay, George Lucas did that for _Star Wars_, but he at least avoided including any Nazis. That decrepit old fuck has also effectively declared war on Magical Britain…well, they did it first, but still…"

"You still intend on heading back?" Tatara asked.

"Yeah. Even if I can't fight alongside Harry overtly, and I'll have to be careful about revealing the One-Eyed Owl's presence there, I can work behind the scenes, whittling down Voldemort's forces, as well as any elements of the Ministry of Magic who are behind this."

"…It will be dangerous," Tatara said. It was unnecessary to say this, and Tatara wasn't fond of saying unnecessary things, so it said a lot about his strong relationship with her that he said this.

"Life's dangerous. Besides…Harry is worth it. Just remember…if I die…"

"Harry will have a place here, yes. You need not repeat yourself, Eto."

"To you, yes. But to the others…I know many in Aogiri Tree don't like him. Yes, he's a Dove, and the Reaper's little brother, but still…he's one of us now. And as long as I live, I'll fucking eat anyone who dares claim otherwise," she said.

A faint smile touched Tatara's lips at that. The Chinese Ghoul was usually very stoic, but even he could find humour in that. "Eto. Take care when you do go." Again, it was not often that he said what he would call fripperies, but it just showed how much he cared about her.

"Sure…"

* * *

Harry groaned as he slouched back into the Chateau, having Apparated to the front door, so to speak, with his big brother. After the press conference, he'd then been subjected to an extended meeting with Tsuneyoshi Washuu. The old fossil had outlined the operational parameters of this little clusterfuck. Rei and Shinohara, along with Mado, would be coming to England…and his big brother too.

The old bastard had made some not-so-subtle threats about keeping himself in line, or else he would be killed like any other Ghoul. Well, terminated was the word he used, like he was some sort of vermin. Hypocrite. As a Ghoul himself, Tsuneyoshi Washuu was the same sort of vermin, only worse, given his history.

Arima was being sent along partly as a propaganda weapon against the Ghouls in Britain, partly because he was easily the deadliest Dove in the CCG, in Japan if not elsewhere…and partly as a means to keep Harry in line. A living Sword of Damocles hanging over his head. Tsuneyoshi believed that Arima and Harry were living weapons at best, to be used and disposed of at their will, obedient only to their commands. That their will surpassed any bonds of sentiment, loyalty and love. One day, Harry intended to disabuse the paedophilic, incestuous and hypocritical monster of that notion. Oh, he was going to enjoy the look on that shitstain's face when he died, preferably with Eto joining in on the fun.

They departed tomorrow, on a chartered plane. Not via Portkey. They needed to be seen arriving in the UK by the authorities. They hoped that the Ministry's anti-Ghoul splinter faction and the Death Eaters would be too stupid to think of targeting an airport, let alone try to find out where and when they were coming. Then again, if some of their opponents were Unspeakables, who might actually have enough intelligence to think about such matters…

Before leaving, they were to write a last will of sorts. It was customary for Doves to do so before leaving on a big operation that might have massive casualties. Harry actually pre-prepared one on his computer, which he printed out after editing it, and then put it into the waiting envelope.

Arima soon came out himself. He placed his own will into the envelope. It was said that Arima left a blank sheet of paper in that envelope whenever this happened. Most claimed it was because he was confident he wouldn't die, but Harry and a few others knew the truth. Until recently, Arima could never figure out what to say. Only sometime after he began looking after Harry did he start writing a will, albeit a laconic one.

"I confess that I find myself…anxious," Arima admitted quietly. "This is the first time I have been fighting against wizards, aside from training sessions with you and volunteers from the local DMLE."

"By anxious, you mean afraid."

"A little. People believe I do not feel fear, but you and I know that is far from the case. It's partly the conditioning they put me through in the Sunlit Garden that blunts my fear, to say nothing of my own abilities as a part-human. But fear also keeps us alive. Even monsters know fear. Then again, as you know, the line between a monster and a person is ridiculously blurry. Nietzsche, as you know, put it best. Those who fight monsters must take care lest they become them."

"Eto quotes it to me often enough."

"…In any case, I am afraid of death, but I am more afraid of leaving you behind. Eto will protect you if Shinohara cannot, but still…I worry. Even though the One-Eyed King plan requires my corpse as the metaphorical foundation of a new world…there is no guarantee it will succeed. But I also fear your demise, what it will do to Eto and I."

Harry nodded solemnly. He knew what would happen. He was the main thing keeping those two monsters remotely human, just as they were to him. "Do you think the Washuu will encourage friendly fire?"

"No. They believe that you are under their control. Only if you weren't would they try to do so…well, unless Matsuri decided to undermine Tsuneyoshi. Which I doubt. Matsuri knows better than to tempt his wrath, or my own. But even the friendly elements of the DMLE in Britain may attack when they see you as a Ghoul. To say nothing of the elements of the mundane government in the know. Many mundane governments don't like the CCG, despite what we do, though this is partly due to the heavy-handedness of the Washuu."

"To say nothing of people like Hachikawa," Harry said, grimacing in disgust at the thought of the Dove whose face, thanks to the leader of the Black Dobers, was missing lips and cheeks. "At least Mado is only cruel to Ghouls. Hachikawa, though, he'd think nothing of killing or torturing normal humans in the way…and then there's that instructor who was giving Mutsuki pointers on how to be a closeted psychopath, when she needed more therapists."

"He," Arima corrected gently. "Mutsuki may be biologically female, but as he has requested to live as a male, with assessment pending for gender reassignment surgery later in life, he is to be addressed as such."

"Sorry, it's confusing. It's stupid of me, really. I can wrap my head around how Ghouls think, I have a split personality in my head, but I can't get the pronouns right for a transgender individual who hasn't undergone the surgery," Harry said, wincing in embarrassment and self-reproach. He didn't want to offend Mutsuki or any other transgender individual, he just didn't quite know how to address them or to speak of them, at least when they identified as one gender, but was biologically another.

Arima nodded. "And yes, Tokage, the instructor in question, is not a particularly good person. A brilliant interrogator, but unfortunately, aside from encouraging Mutsuki's violent tendencies, he has also been overly brutal to Ghouls in Cochlea, to say nothing of allowing Jason to escape on his watch. And I do agree with you about Hachikawa. He has a bad habit of caring little about collateral damage after the incident with the Black Dobers. While I understand his pain and drive, to kill Ghouls and getting civilians injured or worse in the process is something even Mado wouldn't do, though there are plenty of other Investigators who are as vicious or more so than Hachikawa."

Harry nodded. Hell, even he could be ruthless and sadistic towards Ghouls, even without Edward rearing his head. But it was towards Ghouls who deserved it. Out loud, he mused, "I always had a target painted on my back ever since you rescued me from the Ghoul Restaurant anyway. This just makes it bigger."

"Agreed."

They fell into silence after that. Eventually, Harry said, "Do you think the Washuu will see me as a test case, to try and do something similar?"

"In all likelihood, yes. They may not be able to duplicate whatever was done to you specifically, as it was magical, but they may intend to do something similar through surgery or genetic engineering. They've had plenty of practise with the former in their breeding program at the Sunlit Garden."

"I'm not their puppet. I intend to bring the Washuu down at least. Something like the CCG will probably be always needed, as there always will be Ghouls who act violently, even if a substitute form of human flesh can be found. But…they perpetuate it, for their own little megalomaniacal ends. But…to do so, I need to become the One-Eyed King. I'm not strong enough, though. Not yet."

"True. You need to be strong enough to overcome me, Harry. I will help you do so…but it may be that you have to leave the CCG for you to be able to become strong enough. Eto can help you, but you need to become stronger than her."

"No…" Harry said, with a sudden epiphany. "We will become stronger than you, _together_. We will push each other until we can both overcome you. I will not become stronger than Eto. We will both be stronger, pull each other up to greater heights. Because she is as important to me as you are, and I don't want to leave her behind. If I am to be the One-Eyed King, then she will be my Queen, and as an equal, not as a subordinate."

"…I'm sure that if you ever treated Eto as a subordinate, she'd eat you," Arima observed dryly.

Harry could only chuckle bleakly at Arima's deadpan joke. "Yeah, there's that."

"I get where you're coming from. Society the world over is still frequently a patriarchal one. But Eto is a strong and intelligent girl, when she isn't being deranged. She is already showing herself to be a leader of her group, even if she leaves most of the leading to Tatara. And you want her to be by your side, and vice versa. It is because you mean something to each other."

"We mean virtually _everything_ to each other," Harry said.

"I know…"

* * *

Eto sighed as she hung up the phone to her editor, walking along the streets of the 20th Ward early the next morning. Shunji Shiono was a rat of a human, but it was thanks to him that she had gotten her big break into publishing. He was the first human who accepted her for what she was, even if it was out of fear when he came across her meals in the fridge. Then again, he had been checking up on her out of concern. She hadn't gotten used to the idea of locking her apartment, having not actually lived in a proper home before.

She had mixed feelings about him. On the one hand, he had kept her secret for the past couple of years. On the other, she knew that if the CCG actually put any pressure on him, he'd fold pretty quickly. But she could call him a…friend probably wasn't the right term. In some regards, he felt like the father she lacked in Kuzen. In others, he felt like a confidante.

She had been calling him to ensure she had no events or interviews to attend. He was aware, albeit distantly, of her activities, even if he didn't know of Aogiri Tree. She was just taking one last wander around Tokyo, before she took the Portkey to Britain, and the fight to Voldemort. Harry and the Doves were on their way to Britain via plane. She would soon follow.

She didn't realise it until she got there, but her wanderings took her to Anteiku. For a moment, she stood there, debating with herself, before she entered, not even sure why she did so. The smell of coffee hit her nostrils, and she wandered over to a cubicle. Without making an order, she soon found her father sitting down in front of her, proffering a cup of coffee. In fact, it was in a rather elaborate antique cup, and he had its twin.

"What's with the snazzy cups?" Eto asked.

"…I'd hoped that one day, you would come to this shop, and I would be able to sit down for a cup of coffee with you, and talk. I saved these cups for that occasion," Kuzen said.

Despite herself, Eto was actually touched. An old hypocrite he may have been, and Eto still despised him. But the sentiment touched her. She sipped at the coffee, and smiled sadly. "I don't think there's much to talk about, _otoooou-san_," she crooned the last word. "Not about us. We have our own separate lives and goals. You want peace, I want to stir shit up. You want stasis, I want progress. You want to tame Ghouls, and I want to liberate them. Don't get me wrong, your little business here isn't a bad idea. But it's a flawed one. You wish to help Ghouls hide from the world, not change the world."

"And you will? With violence?"

"The world is built on violence and death. As I told you when we met, I don't intend to be senseless about it. I may be a monster, but not that much of one. I will keep innocent lives caught up in it to a minimum, humans or Ghouls. But I'm not stupid, not some wide-eyed idealist. I just want to ensure the world becomes a better place for Ghouls, ensure that humans and Ghouls can actually find an alternative to this…mess we're in now. Anyway, I didn't come here to talk about that. I'm going back to Britain soon, to help out Harry. There's a very real possibility that I may not come back."

"I see. Then I wish you the best of luck, Eto. You may despise me, and with good reason, but I…"

"…Will always love me, blah blah blah. I'm not here to say I love you before I die. Hating you is not going to be a dying regret. But…if I do die…I want you to know that I wish things were different, that Mum didn't have to die, that we could have been a family. But…we aren't."

"No," Kuzen said quietly. "And as much as this old fool wants us to come back together…I do understand why you won't ever come back to me. We've both gone down too far our respective paths of violence. Your mother was merely the capping stone. And she was a far braver woman than I ever would be."

"…I know…"

* * *

As she headed back to her apartment, readying herself to take the Portkey to Britain, she bumped into a dark-haired boy, his eyes bloodshot, clutching a book to him. He tumbled to the ground with a startled yelp. "Oh, sorry," Eto said with a smile. "I didn't notice you there. Hey, kid, are you all right?" He shook his head as he got up. "What's wrong, then?"

"…My mother died yesterday," the boy whimpered. "_Karoshi._"

_Karoshi_. The charming Japanese term for death by overwork. While not quite a uniquely Japanese phenomenon, it was certainly a problem. Eto actually felt a pang of sympathy for him. And then, her eyes noticed the book he was carrying. It was a copy of _Dear Kafka_. "Are you a fan of Sen Takatsuki?" she asked.

Mutely, miserably, he nodded.

Eto decided to do something nice for the boy. A token thing, really, but there was something about the boy that vaguely reminded him of her, though at least he lived long enough to know his mother. So she bent down and smiled sadly as she plucked the book from him. "My mother died when I was young too," she said softly, as she pulled out a pen. "And while this book probably won't cheer you up, well…I hope this does, even a little. What's your name?"

"…Ken Kaneki," the boy said.

"Nice name," she said, signing the book, before handing it back to him. His eyes grew wide when he saw the dedication, whom he bumped into. "I've got to go away for a while, Ken Kaneki, but…I hope you enjoy my books, now, and for the future. Maybe I might see you at a signing?"

"…Yes, Miss Takatsuki! Thank you!" Ken said, his eyes glistening with tears, not just of sorrow, but of gratitude. And Eto was moved, more than a little. It reminded her that her goal was not eradication or domination of humans. She smiled, giving him a brief hug. Ken had the air of a boy whose life may end up as a tragedy. But perhaps, she had helped shine at least one small light into his life…

* * *

Fudge had realised something, too little, too late. Normally, his instincts for navigating politics were fairly decent. But his jumping on the information provided by that frightful harridan Augusta Longbottom had had unforeseen consequences…well, to him, anyway. Only now, with the DMLE having threatened to almost entirely collectively quit (even the usually loyal Dawlish) when he sacked Amelia Bones, did he realise it. He'd hurriedly reinstated her, but he had been shown a recording of Chairman Washuu's press conference. It was too little, too late. He had tickled a sleeping dragon, and it had awoken.

Fudge sighed. All he could do now was try and run some sort of damage control and endure a humiliating retraction. Those were his thoughts going through his mind as he left his office and arrived back at his house. But then, just as he brushed his robes off after exiting the Floo, he felt an arm snake around his throat.

"Shhh," hissed his captor, his voice muffled by a mask. "I wouldn't scream. Nobody's gonna find you. Now, I have to admit, Voldemort isn't really doing much for me lately. Yeah, I get to torture people, make them scream and swear and despair…but I don't really like being anyone's lapdog, you get me? It's why I pissed off from Tokyo in the first place. But I could see that Voldemort saw us as being beneath him, when in reality, we're at the top of the fucking food chain."

Fudge was hurled onto a nearby chair, and an attempt to get up was met with a blow to the stomach that knocked the wind out of him. He stared up at his assailant, a tall, hulking man with blonde hair, wearing a hockey mask. The man wrapped Fudge up with duct tape rather swiftly. "Now, I have a few friends in Voldemort's little organisation that got me magical tools that broke through wards and whatnot. The Dark Lord wants you alive, for now, given that your little bit of denial, but frankly…I'm sick of waiting. I want to see some fun. I want chaos, and while there's been a bit, I have to admit, the CCG getting attacked wasn't a good idea, whoever did it. Don't get me wrong, I want to see those Doves die, but…well, I'd prefer to see the Doves and the Death Eaters fight it out, so we can come out on top. So, I'm gonna kill you, slowly and painfully, and write a wee message that places the blame on Voldemort. Any idiot Ghoul who wants to stick with him after that deserves to die, but me? I'm gonna wait for the fighting to die down, and become king here. With the British CCG decimated, and the British Ghouls losing so many…well, it's an opportunity."

Fudge couldn't speak, even when his diaphragm stopped spasming. He wanted to deny everything this Ghoul said. But as the Ghoul took off his mask and revealed flat, vaguely gecko-like features, he knew he had nothing to give to the Ghoul…nothing save for a slow painful death.

"Now, before we begin, let me introduce myself. Most people call me Jason. Now…" With a rather large pair of scissors, he reached for Fudge's fingers. "_What's 1000 minus 7?_"

**CHAPTER 23 ANNOTATIONS:**

**Oh dear. That wasn't planned when I wrote this chapter, either Fudge regretting his actions or Jason deciding to break off with Voldemort, but hey, it works, right?**

**Also, the later scenes with Eto speaking with her father and a certain protagonist of ****_Tokyo Ghoul_**** was unplanned too, at least for this chapter. I actually intended them for the next chapter, but decided, they were too good to leave out of this one. Plus, having Eto meet a young Ken wasn't my intention, and yet…well, there's something fitting about these two meeting early. When Ken's mother died, he was in a bad way, especially given his mother's neglect, even abuse of him, and his aunt was pretty nasty to him too. So Eto's gesture may be just the thing Ken needs to get through it.**

**Review-answering time! ****Jostanos****: Actually, ****_Get Ready to Die_**** by Andrew WK. After having it on an episode of ****_Hellsing Ultimate Abridged_****, well, what else?**

**No numbered annotations this time.**


End file.
